Hof denies being made US envoy to Syria

Damascus: Frederic C. Hof, who currently serves on the National Advisory Committee of the Middle East Policy Council, has denied, in a statement to Gulf News, being appointed as US President Barack Obama's ambassador to Syria.

Hof said, "To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of my impending appointment are greatly exaggerated. Indeed, they are false. I have maintained a lifelong habit of not accepting jobs I've not been offered, and this one will be no exception."

He added: "When I was an American Field Service exchange student in Damascus in 1964 I promised my Syrian friends I'd someday return as Ambassador. Some of them will be disappointed to learn that your report has no basis in fact. Others will be relieved."

Last week, Gulf News published a report saying that Hof was likely to fill a post left vacant since the United States withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005.

The report had run on several Arabic websites before Gulf News, and re-published in several others, based on the Gulf News story.

Hof is a former director of occupied Jerusalem field operations for the Sharm Al Shaikh fact-finding committee headed by then-senate majority leader George Mitchell.

He later worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defence as a specialist on Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestinian Affairs. Leaks of his appointment followed several gestures towards Syria by President Obama, and a statement by ex-President Jimmy Carter, saying that the US is likely to appoint an ambassador to Syria, soon.