Manama: US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate retired four-star General John P. Abizaid of Nevada to serve as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a key post for the US administration.
The 67-year-old is well-versed in the politics of the Middle East and spent his military career leading missions in Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. He retired from the military in 2007.
He currently serves as the first Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and works as a private consultant at JPA Associates.
Previously, he held the Distinguished Chair of the Combating Terrorism Centre at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has worked with the Preventative Defence Project at Stanford University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the White House said in a statement.
General Abizaid began his career in the US Army as an infantry platoon leader and rose to become a four-star general and the longest serving commander of United States Central Command. He served as the Director of Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff and then Director of the Joint Staff among other leadership positions.
General Abizaid was a Distinguished Graduate of the US Military Academy and earned his M.A. in Middle Eastern Area Studies from Harvard University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
General Abizaid is a recipient of the Defence Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.
The first US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bert Fish, was appointed in August 1939. The last was Joseph W. Westphal, appointed in 2014.
