The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - September 2006

Armenia
Khachatur Ghazaryan assumed the position of counselor on July 10.

Egypt
Walid M. Abdelnasser departed the post of minister plenipotentiary, deputy chief of mission on July 28.

Khaled Mohamed Sameh Anis assumed the position of second secretary on Aug. 2, having previously served as second secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-06) and third secretary at the Egyptian Embassy in Israel (1999-2003).

Mohamed Omar H.M. Azmy departed the post of third secretary on July 1.

Mohamed Ahmed Dawood assumed the position of counselor on July 24.

Maj. Gen. Nabil Mostafa Mohamed Ibrahim Elmohandes assumed the position of defense, military, naval and air attaché on April 1, replacing Maj. Gen. Taher Ali Elsersy, who departed the post on June 1. Elmohandes previously served as chief of staff airborne units at the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in Cairo (2003-06), airborne school commander at the MOD (2001-03), and brigade commander at the MOD (1999-2001).

Lt. Col. Mohamed Elderbaly assumed the position of assistant defense, military, naval and air attaché on July 14, replacing Youssef Mohamed A. Shahin, who departed the post on July 14. Elderbaly previously served as a battalion commander at the Ministry of Defense in Cairo (2000-06) and underwent military training at Fort Leonardwood, Mo. (2002).

Hussein Abdel Karim Mubarak departed the post of minister plenipotentiary on July 28.

Amr Ahmed Ramadan assumed the position of counselor on Aug. 1, having previously served as director of the International Economic Relations Division (2004-06) and director of the U.N. Division (2004) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as counselor at the Egyptian Embassy in Switzerland (2001-04).

Ashraf Abdel Kader Salama assumed the position of counselor on June 12, having previously served as counselor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-06) and consul at the Egyptian Embassy in Senegal (2001-05).

Alaa Eldin Mohamed Hassan Youssef departed the post of counselor on July 28.

Honduras
Hugo Noe Bustamante assumed the position of counselor on June 1.

Sara Pineda De Murphy departed the post of counselor (tourism) on April 1.

Iceland
Audunn Atlason departed the post of counselor on June 6.

Anna K. Vilhjalmsdottir assumed the position of first secretary on Aug. 1, having previously served as first secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2003-06).

Lesotho
Mabasia N. Mohobame assumed the position of counselor on Aug. 4, replacing Motheba G. Moeletsi, who departed the post on Aug. 4. Mohobame previously served as a counselor at the Lesotho Embassy in Belgium and as a registrar of a technical college in Lesotho.

The Netherlands
Christiaan Mark Johan Kröner was appointed ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States on Aug. 7, replacing former Dutch Ambassador Boudewijn J. van Eenennaam. Ambassador Kröner previously served as the Dutch ambassador to France (2001-06), Italy (1997-2001) and Israel (1993-97). Ambassador Kröner joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973 and has held several positions throughout his diplomatic career. He was appointed ambassador-at-large and deputy director-general of public affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague; consul-general in Munich; and deputy head of the Directorate Atlantic Cooperation and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also served postings in Vienna—for the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction (MBFR) talks—Accra, New Delhi and Belgrade. Ambassador Kröner holds a degree in international law from the University of Leiden and studied conducting at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Richard van Rijssen assumed the position of minister plenipotentiary, deputy chief of mission on July 13, replacing Wim Geerts, who departed the post in June. Van Rijssen previously served as trade policy director for the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Van Rijssen has also held various positions within the Netherlands government, including: head of the political, economic and cultural sections at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok, as well as head of the political and humanitarian sections at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, during which time he received the 1999 Human Rights Award of the International Service for Human Rights. Van Rijssen holds a master’s degree of law from Groningen University and is a graduate of the Foreign Service Academy in the Netherlands and of the École Nationale d’Administration in France.

Jack Twiss Quarles van Ufford assumed the position of counselor for political affairs on Aug. 7, replacing Caspar Veldkamp, who departed the post in August. Twiss previously served as private secretary for the minister of development cooperation, as well as a speechwriter and press officer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Task Force during the Netherlands chairmanship of the OSCE. In addition, Twiss completed two tours of Africa, in Nigeria and Tanzania. Twiss holds a master’s degree in social anthropology from the University of Amsterdam.

Poland
Wojciech Flera assumed the position of minister, deputy chief of mission on July 31, replacing Boguslaw Winid, who departed the post on July 28.

Serbia
Dejan Radulovic assumed the position of minister-counselor on Aug. 11, replacing Bozin Nikolic, who departed the post on Aug. 11.