Iraq

Jabir Habeb Jabir became ambassador of Iraq to the United States on Jan. 18, 2012 having most recently managed the “Arabic Region” Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Jabir was previously a lecturer with the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Baghdad University from 1991 to 2005, as well as an associate senior lecturer at the Iraqi Justice Institution from 1998 to 1999. With a 20-year academic background specializing in political science, he supervised many postgraduate master’s and Ph.D. thesis candidates at Baghdad University and wrote various articles on international relations and politics for both academic publications and media outlets such as The Middle East, published in London. In 2005, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Ambassador Jabir was elected as a member of the United Iraqi Alliance to the Iraqi Parliament, where he served on the Constitution Review Committee and the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.

Born in Baghdad in 1955, Ambassador Jabir obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science from Baghdad University in 1980 and his doctorate from Dundee University in the United Kingdom in 1991.

He is married with three sons.

Jordan

Adi Ghassan Mohd Khair assumed the position of first secretary handling congressional and political affairs on March 5. He previously served as a special assistant to the U.N. special envoy for Libya, as well as a political expert with the Permanent Mission of Jordan to the United Nations.

Sufyan Qudah departed the post of minister-counselor (politics) in April, having previously served as political officer wit the Department of Asian, African and Australian Affairs at the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Amman.

Mali

Al Maamoun Baba Lamine Keita became ambassador of Mali to the United States on Jan. 18, 2012 having previously served as the secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation since 2008.

Before that, Ambassador Keita was Mali’s ambassador to Ethiopia with concurrent accreditation to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Djibouti from 2001 to 2007. During this time, he was also Mali’s permanent representative to the African Union, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa and the U.N. Environmental Program. In addition, he served various postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including technical advisor (1999-2001), political affairs director (1996-99), chief of the Middle East Division (1981-89) and of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Division (1987-89), as well as first counselor at the Malian Embassy in Egypt (1989-96). Ambassador Keita helped to develop the curriculum for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in 1999, was the founder and editor-in-chief of the news magazine La Concorde from 1985 to 1989, and was a bilingual interpreter for former Malian President Gen. Moussa Traoré from 1980 to 1989.

Born in 1955, Ambassador Keita holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Cairo University. He also holds various diplomas from the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State and USAID, as well as the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in London.

Ambassador is married to Marié Keita and has five children.

Marshall Islands

Charles Rudolph Paul became ambassador of the Marshall Islands on Sept. 9, 2011 after his predecessor, Ambassador Banny deBrum, died in March 2011.

Ambassador Paul most recently served as first secretary for health and education affairs at the Marshall Islands Embassy in Washington since 2007, having been appointed chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission in February 2008.

Ambassador Paul graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in business management from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, in 2003. He also worked as an intern at the International Programs Center of the U.S. Census Bureau at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. After his graduation in 2003, Ambassador Paul worked as an economic research specialist with the Marshall Islands Office of Compact Negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The following year, he served as chief of performance monitoring, evaluation, and aid coordination at the Economic Policy, Planning and Statistics Office (EPPSO) in Majuro.

Ambassador Paul is the son of Rudolph and Irene Paul of Ebeye, Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.