WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden intends to nominate career diplomat Michael Ratney to be US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the White House said on Friday.
If confirmed by the Senate, Ratney, who was previously the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Jerusalem and the US special envoy for Syria, would be the first career diplomat to serve as ambassador to Riyadh in three decades.
Ratney, whose official biography says he speaks Arabic and French, has previously been deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Doha and has had tours in Mexico City, Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Bridgetown, and Washington.
There was no US ambassador in Saudi Arabia for two years after former President Donald Trump took office. He then picked John Abizaid to be the envoy. The post has been vacant since he left in January 2021.
US-Saudi relations have been hit after Biden took office who froze arms sales to Riyadh, and lifted the terror designation off the Iran-backed Al Houthi militia.
