Manama: Bahrain is set to nominate a Christian woman as its ambassador to a European capital, diplomats told Gulf News.
Alice Samaan, a former Member of Parliament, will be the first Christian ambassador to represent the overwhelmingly Muslim country.
She will also be the second woman from a minority group to be appointed ambassador after Huda Nonoo, also a former Member of Parliament, became in 2008 the first Arab Jewish ambassador in Washington.
Alice was one of the first six women who sat in 2002-2006 in the Shura (upper chamber of the bicameral parliament). She was also a Shura member in the 2006-2010 legislative term. In April 2005, she made history by becoming the first woman and the first Christian to chair a legislative council session in the Arab world.
Alice worked as a teacher at the American Mission School, today known as Al Raja School, and at the health ministry in charge of overseas training.
She was also an international programme officer at the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for Bahrain and Oman.
