April 14 (Reuters) - Gulfsands Petroleum Plc said itremoved Mahdi Sajjad as chief executive and appointed AlastairBeardsall as executive chairman of the company with immediateeffect.
The oil and gas production, exploration and developmentcompany, which operates in Syria, Morocco, Tunisia and Colombiasaid Sajjad would remain as a director of the company. (http://bit.ly/1OurN3T)
Outgoing chairman Andrew West has agreed to remain as anon-executive director with the company.
Waterford Finance and Investment Ltd, which owns about 26.5percent of Gulfsands, had called for the removal of Sajjad andCommercial Director Kenneth Judge, alleging that the managementhad failed to build a viable business outside Syria.
Beardsall and other executive directors would evaluate thecompany's strategic options and related funding requirements,the company said in a statement.
The company said last month that it was in talks with itsmajor shareholders to secure immediate working capital as itstruggles to repay some debt and continue funding operations. (Reporting by Roshni Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by AnupamaDwivedi)