The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - March 2007

Azerbaijan
Yashar Aliyev became ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States on Nov. 16. Ambassador Aliyev previously served as Azerbaijan’s permanent representative to the United Nations since January 2002, during which time he was chairman of the Fourth Committee of Special Political and Decolonization of the 60th U.N. General Assembly, vice president of the 59th General Assembly, vice president of the Economic and Social Council (2004-05), and vice president of the U.N. Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (2001). Ambassador Aliyev began his diplomatic career at the United Nations 14 years ago, serving as political affairs counselor and chargé d’affaires of the Azeri Permanent Mission. In addition, from 1993 to 2006, he was a member of the Delegation of Azerbaijan to the U.N. General Assembly. Ambassador Aliyev, who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989, has also held posts as political officer, first secretary and deputy in the Ministry’s Department of Information and Political Analysis, as well as head of the Ministry’s Department of International Organizations. Ambassador Aliyev holds a degree in Oriental studies from Azerbaijan State University, and he pursued post-graduate work at the Oriental Studies Institute of the Soviet Union’s Academy of Sciences in Moscow, also studying for a year at the Diplomatic Academy of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is fluent in English, Arabic, Russian and Turkish and has two children.

Bahamas
Chanelle Brown departed the post of third secretary in December.

Rhoda Jackson assumed the position of minister-counselor, chargé d’affaires on Feb. 1, having previously served as the CARICOM desk officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jackson received her first Foreign Service posting in August 1988, serving in cities such as London, New York and Washington, D.C. As economic and commercial officer at the Bahamas High Commission in London, Jackson was also responsible to matters pertaining to the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific Groups of States in Brussels. During her first posting to Washington, she focused on consular and economic matters, and in New York, she was first secretary at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vidosav Cvijetic assumed the position of finance counselor, replacing Ankica Kovacevic.

Svetozar Miletic assumed the position of consular minister-counselor, replacing Amra Kosovic.

Egypt
Karim Ahmad A. Haggag assumed the position of counselor and head of the Egyptian Press Office on Jan. 22, replacing Hesham Moussa El Nakib, who departed the post of minister plenipotentiary and head of the press office on Jan. 5. Haggag previously served as a cabinet member in the Office of the President (2002-07) and first secretary at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington (1997-2005).

Brig. Gen. Haysam Mostafa Hussein Hammouda assumed the position of director on Nov. 1, replacing Maj. Gen. Amr Abdelmoneim Ibrahim, who departed the post on Jan. 1. Hammouda previously served as assistant director in procurement at the Ministry of Defense in Cairo (2001-06).

Dr. Ahsraf Mohamed El Rabiey assumed the position of minister plenipotentiary and head of the Egyptian Commercial Office on Feb. 1, having previously served as first undersecretary of commercial services at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Cairo (2005-07), minister plenipotentiary at the Consulate of Egypt’s Commercial Office in New York (2000-05), and first secretary at the Egyptian Embassy Commercial Office in New York (1989-93).

Luxembourg
Marc Godefroid assumed the position of consul on Oct. 2, replacing Monique Thill, who departed the post on Sept. 30.

Portugal
Catarina Arruda departed the post of secretary in September.

António J.M. Sabido Costa assumed the position of counselor in September.

António Calado Lopes assumed the position of economic counselor in February.

Florbela Paraíba departed the post of secretary in January.

Francisco Cabrita Saraiva assumed the position of secretary in October.

Saudi Arabia
Adel A. Al-Jubeir was appointed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as ambassador to the United States on Jan. 29, 2007.

While a doctorate candidate at Georgetown University in 1987, Ambassador Al-Jubeir was appointed to the Saudi Diplomatic Service and posted to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington as special assistant to the ambassador. From 1990 to 1991, he was part of the team that established the Joint Information Bureau at Dhahran during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Ambassador Al-Jubeir also served as director of the Saudi Information and Congressional Affairs Office in Washington in 1999, and was named foreign affairs advisor in the Crown Prince’s Court in the fall of 2000. In August 2005, he was appointed by the king to be an advisor at the Royal Court. He was also co-secretary of the U.S.-Saudi Strategic Dialogue chaired by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In addition, Ambassador Al-Jubeir has been a member of numerous international delegations. He was a visiting diplomatic fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York from 1994 to 1995, and has lectured at universities and academic institutions in the United States, as well as appeared frequently in the media.

Ambassador Al-Jubeir, who is fluent in English, Arabic and German, attended schools in Germany, Yemen, Lebanon and the United States. He obtained a bachelor’s summa cum laude degree in political science and economics from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University.

Slovakia
Andrej Droba assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on Feb. 5, replacing Miroslav Wlachovsky, who departed the post on Jan. 31. Droba previously served as director of cabinet and deputy secretary of state with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-07), as well as in the Slovak Permanent Mission to the United Nations (2001-05).

Slovenia
Jean-Pierre Vonarb assumed the position of third secretary on Oct. 9, replacing Miha Rossler, who departed the post on Oct. 9. Vonarb previously served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and holds a bachelor’s degree in political sciences and French language and literature.

Irena Lukac assumed the position of economic counselor on Dec. 5, replacing Borut Repansek, who departed the post in June. Lukac previously served in the Slovenian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Syria
Manal Kaddoura assumed the position of attaché on Dec. 10, having previously served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.