The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - June 2007

Ireland
Myles Geiran assumed the position of press officer in April, replacing Joseph Hackett. Geiran previously served at the U.N. missions in Paris and Geneva and most recently as a policy adviser on European affairs to the National Parliament.

Macedonia
Zoran Jolevski was appointed ambassador of Macedonia to the United States in March. Ambassador Jolevski previously served as chief of party for the Macedonian Business Environment Activity (2007-present) and to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Compliance Activity (2004-06)—both USAID-funded projects. A professor for the European University (2003-present), he has also served as secretary-general of the Macedonian president’s Cabinet and chief advisor to the economy minister on WTO accession (2000-04), as well as secretary of the Macedonian Permanent Mission to the WTO and the United Nations in Geneva (1994-98). In addition, Ambassador Jolevski held several postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including deputy national coordinator on humanitarian issues for Kosovo refugees, WTO accession and other international trade and financial affairs, and secretary to the Coordination Group on Ex-Yugoslavia Succession Issues. He is also a member of several company management boards, spoken at various international conferences and forums, and the author of numerous books and articles. Ambassador Jolevski holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s of science degree in law, and a doctorate in international economy from the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Macedonia, as well as a postgraduate diploma from the Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands. He speaks English, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian and French. Ambassador Jolevski is married to Suzana Jolevski and has two sons, Pero and Filip.

Mauritius
Kailash Ruhee became ambassador of Mauritius to the United States on Feb. 16. Ambassador Ruhee previously served as chief of staff to the prime minister of Mauritius. Other postings within the government include minister of economic planning and development, minister of civil service and employment, and minister of agriculture. Ambassador Ruhee was also an associate professor at the University of Mauritius and senior partner responsible for business development in Africa at De Chazal Du Mée and Co., a firm that represented Arthur Andersen in the southeastern region of Africa. In addition, he has held several board memberships, including founding member of Transparency Mauritius and of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mauritius. Ambassador Ruhee was educated at Louisiana State University and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and holds a master’s of science degree in agriculture with statistics as a minor. He is married with two children.

Montenegro
Miodrag Vlahovic became ambassador of Montenegro to the United States in December, also serving as nonresident ambassador to Iceland since April. Prior to his Washington posting, Ambassador Vlahovic was his country’s foreign affairs minister (2004-06), as well as a board member of the Open Society Institute Montenegro (2002-04), director of the Center for Regional and Security Studies (1999-present), founding member of the Montenegrin Center for Democracy and Human Rights (1998), columnist for the publication Monitor (1991-93; 1999-2000), and international secretary of the Liberal Party of Montenegro (1992-93). In addition, he is the founder of the Citizens Committee for Peace in the Montenegrin Peace Movement, having organized the first peace rally in Montenegro in 1991, and he served as a member of Parliament from 1992 until he resigned in 1994. Since 1990, he has also been the owner of MConsult Ltd., one of the first private consulting agencies in Montenegro. Ambassador Vlahovic graduated from the Podgorica Law Faculty in 1986, has studied at the International Chamber of Commerce, Arbitration in Paris and the International University Center in Luxembourg, and completed his post-graduate thesis on “Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights and EEC Competition Rules” in the Netherlands. He speaks English and Italian and is married with three daughters.

Nepal
Kali Prasad Pokhrel assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on April 24, replacing Rudra Kumar Nepal, who departed the post on April 18. Pokhrel, who joined the Nepalese Foreign Service in 1990, previously served at the Nepalese Embassy in India (1999-2003) and in Egypt (1996-97), as well as Nepal’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (1995-96), in addition to various postings for the Foreign Ministry.

Nicaragua
Arturo Cruz Jr. became ambassador of Nicaragua to the United States on Feb. 21. Ambassador Cruz is a tenured professor at INCAE Business School in Managua, Nicaragua, and a visiting professor at the Advanced School of Economics and Business in San Salvador, El Salvador. In addition, he has served as a consultant to numerous organizations, including the United Nations Development Program in Central America, the Association for Private Enterprise in El Salvador, the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development, the Boards of Directors for Banco de Istmo in Panama, Banco Agricola and Banco Cuscatlan in El Salvador, as well as the Central American Integration Bank in Honduras. He also served as a consultant to the government of Nicaragua for the CAFTA trade negotiations with the United States and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Banco UNO in Nicaragua. He is the author of several books, the latest of which is “Varieties of Liberalism in Central America: Nation-States as Works in Progress,” and his articles on Latin America and the U.S. foreign policy have appeared in various publications. Before joining INCAE, Ambassador Cruz was a fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. He obtained his doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford, a master’s degree in international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and completed undergraduate work at American University in Washington.

Peru
Manuel Talavera assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on Feb. 1, replacing Jorge Felix Rubio, who departed the post on Jan. 18.

Syria
Joumana Hazim departed the post of attaché on March 31.

Manal Kaddoura assumed the position of attaché in December.

Enass Khansa assumed the position of cultural attaché in February.

Turkey
Tuncay Babali assumed the position of counselor on April 1, having previously served as counselor at the Turkish Embassy in London (2006-07), deputy chief of cabinet to the president (2003-06), vice consul at the Turkish Consulate in Houston (1999-2003), and second secretary at the Turkish Embassy in Sofia (1998-99).