Manama: Susan L. Ziadeh has been nominated as the new US ambassador to Qatar, the White House has announced.
A career diplomat, Susan currently serves as deputy ambassador in Saudi Arabia. She will replace Joseph Evan LeBaron who was sworn in as ambassador to Qatar on July 18, 2008.
Prior to her current assignment, Susan served as the official spokesperson at the US embassy in Iraq from 2008 to 2009 and as the deputy ambassador in Bahrain.
Her career has also included overseas tours in Kuwait, Jordan and Tel Aviv. Susan worked in Washington from 2001 to 2003 and as the Desk Officer for Jordan.
She has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan, an MA from the American University of Beirut and a BA from the University of Washington.
She is a 2004 Distinguished Graduate of the National War College, National Defense University with an MS in National Security Studies.
Earlier this month, Matthew H. Tueller was nominated as US ambassador in Kuwait.
Tueller, a career diplomat and a former Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait, will replace Deborah Jones, the only woman US ambassador to serve in Kuwait, and will be the 17th US diplomat to head a mission to Kuwait since the Gulf country gained its independence in 1961. Deborah arrived in Kuwait City on April 19, 2008.
The US, however, has still to name a successor to Joseph Adam Ereli, the former US ambassador in Manama, who left Bahrain on January 12 to take up a new position in Washington.
The US has had diplomats posted in Bahrain since 1971 after the country gained its independence. The diplomatic mission was established on September 21, five weeks after Bahrain's independence.
