Herro Mustafa

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Herro Mustafa
Hêro Mistefa
Herro K. Mustafa official photo.jpg
United States Ambassador to Bulgaria
Assumed office
October 18, 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byJustin Friedman
Chargée d'affaires a.i.
Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Portugal
In office
July 2016 – September 26, 2019
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Succeeded byTBD
United States chargé d'affaires to Portugal
In office
January 20, 2017 – August 25, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRobert A. Sherman (as Ambassador)
Succeeded byGeorge Edward Glass (as Ambassador)
Coalition Provisional Authority Coordinator for Nineveh
In office
May 2003 – June 2004
Preceded byMisha'an al-Juburi
Succeeded by
(Interim Governor)
Personal details
Born1973 (age 47–48)
Erbil, Iraq
Alma materGeorgetown University
Princeton University

Herro Kader Mustafa[1] (Kurdish: Hêro Mistefa‎; born 1973) is an American diplomat who is has served as the U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria since 2019. She carries the rank of Counselor, the lowest of four ranks in the Senior Foreign Service.

Mustafa's family story was the subject of the documentary film American Herro. She is multilingual and speaks English, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and Greek.[2]

Early life and education[]

Mustafa was born in Erbil, Iraq, in the Kurdistan region, to a Kurdish family and spent two years of her childhood in a refugee camp.[3] Her family sought asylum in the United States in 1976. Her father was a Kurdish political activist and an opponent of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The family was taken in by Zion Lutheran Church at Minot, North Dakota in 1976.

Mustafa graduated from Minot High School in 1991 and earned her undergraduate degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1995 where she studied national security and the Middle East. She also received a master's degree in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.[4]

Career[]

After graduation, she directed a non-governmental organization for Kurdish studies in the U.S., traveled to Bosnia to supervise provincial elections and served as the Senior Editor for the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Mustafa joined the United States Foreign Service in 1999 and served in Athens (as a Political Officer for human rights and trafficking), Beirut (as a consular official), Washington, D.C. (as Iran desk officer at the National Security Council under Elliot Abrams, and special assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Joseph Burns,[5] and Iraq (as Coalition Provisional Authority coordinator for Nineveh under L. Paul Bremer).[3][6]

Mustafa was senior advisor on the Middle East to Vice President Joe Biden from March 2009[7] to 2011.[8]

Mustafa has been nominated for the Department of State Human Rights and Democracy Achievement award and has received the Superior Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award for her work.[2]

Mustafa once served as Political Minister Counselor at the United States Embassy in India, and has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Portugal since July 2016.[8]

Mustafa was United States chargée d'affaires in Portugal (i.e. acting Ambassador) from the end of Robert A. Sherman's term as Ambassador on January 20, 2017[9] to August 25, 2017, when she was replaced by George Edward Glass also as Ambassador.[10] She drew notice for being a Muslim former refugee serving the Donald Trump administration.[11]

June 2019, Mustafa was nominated ambassador to Bulgaria by the Trump administration.[12] Her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019. She presented her credentials to President Rumen Radev on October 18, 2019.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ "A Kurdish-American in Mosul". Middle East Research and Information Project. Summer 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "4 Days Left to Register for the Foreign Service Written Exam." United States Department of State, Office of the Spokesman. 11 March 2003.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Staples, David. "Refugee Finds Her Niche from the American Heartland to the Iraqi Homeland." State Magazine July/August 2004. United States Department of State, p. 9-10.
  4. ^ "North Dakota Filmmakers feature Condoleezza Rice in documentary project Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine." Communications Corps.
  5. ^ Rosen, Steve. "Herro Mustafa appointed Biden's Mideast adviser." Obama Mideast Monitor, Middle East Forum. 22 March 2009.
  6. ^ "Herro Mustafa MPA '97 of NSC keynote at WWS grad orientation." Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs 2005.
  7. ^ Rozen, Laura. "More names: OVP, DoD." "The Cable" blog, Foreign Policy 21 March 2009.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Deputy Chief of Mission Herro Mustafa". U. S. Embassy and Consulate in Portugal. U. S. Department of State. Retrieved October 13, 2017. Herro Mustafa began her tour in Lisbon, Portugal as Deputy Chief of Mission in July, 2016. Previously, she was the Political Minister Counselor at Embassy New Delhi [i.e., the United States Embassy in India].
  9. ^ Cabrita-Mendes, André (January 6, 2017). "Embaixador dos EUA que apoiou a selecção parte com Portugal 'no coração'" [USA ambassador who supported the national team leaves with Portugal 'on [his] heart']. Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved October 13, 2017. A embaixada norte-americana diz que a representação diplomática em Portugal vai ser feita pela ministra conselheira Herro Mustafa até que um novo Embaixador seja nomeado e chegue a Lisboa.
  10. ^ "Ambassador George E. Glass". U. S. Embassy and Consulate in Portugal. U. S. Department of State. Retrieved October 13, 2017. George E. Glass of Oregon arrived in Lisbon on August 24, 2017 to serve as United States Ambassador to the Portuguese Republic. He presented his credentials to the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on August 25th, 2017.
  11. ^ Rodrigues, Catarina Marques; Pina, Pedro; Piteira, Sara (April 12, 2017). "A representante de Trump em Portugal é muçulmana e ex-refugiada. 'Eu também sou a América'" [Trump's representative in Portugal is a Muslim and a former refugee. 'I too am America']. RTP (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  12. ^ US ambassador-designate to Bulgaria named. (2019, June 18). Retrieved June 18, 2019, from The Sofia Globe website: https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/06/18/us-ambassador-designate-to-bulgaria-named/
  13. ^ "Ambassador Mustafa Presents Her Credentials". U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2019-10-19."Ambassador Mustafa Presents Her Credentials". U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Eric S. Rubin 		United States Ambassador to Bulgaria
2019–present 		Incumbent
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