Friday, May 30, 2008
Bahrain Appoints Jewish Ambassador to US
Foreign Confidential....As expected, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's ambassador to the United States--the first Jewish ambassador from an Arab country.
Houda Nonoo told the Associated Press on Friday that she was proud to be named "first of all as a Bahraini."
This week's formal appointment of the 43-year old mother of two follows leaked reports in Arabic language press a month ago.
Nonoo is a member of Bahrain's all-appointed upper legislature and heads a human rights group in the Persian Gulf island kingdom.
A US ally, Bahrain is considered to be at the forefront of a democratization push in the Arab world. Its tiny Jewish community of about 50 dates to Talmudic times; Nonoo is descended from Iraqi merchants who migrated in the late 19th century.
