Former French Ambassador to Cambodia Gildas Le Lidec will head up a newly created

overseas aid department within the French government, according to an article in

L'Humanite. The govt announced Mar 18 that the new entity would deal with international

humanitarian aid and would coordinate efforts of the Ministries of Defense, Interior,

and Health. One function of the department will be to deal with aid to "post-crisis"

countries. Le Lidec was most recently France's ambassador to the Democratic Republic

of the Congo.