16/03/2010
Candidate for the post of U.S. Ambassador in Damascus: I will try to persuade Syria to support Iraq's stability
Stressed the candidate for the post of ambassador to the United States in Syria, Robert Ford, that he would seek in the event of his appointment was confirmed to persuade Syria to help stabilize Iraq.
Ford said before the Foreign Relations Committee in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday:
"I have served more than four years in Iraq, and I saw with my own eyes the tragic consequences brought about by the terrorist bombings committed by the car bomb networks of foreign fighters by sending suicide bombers from the airport in Damascus to Iraq."
Ford pointed out that Syria's interest in a stable, secure, sovereign, Iraq and added:
The Iraq and Syria can lay the foundations for economic relations to benefit both countries. "
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Robert Stephen Ford:
Is an American career diplomat currently nominated to serve as the United States Ambassador to Syria. He served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008. Ford is originally from Denver but is more recently a resident of Maryland. He received his Master of Arts in 1983 from Johns Hopkins University.
In addition to English, Ford speaks German, Turkish, French, and Arabic. A senior advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq once described Ford as being "regarded as one of the best Arabists in the State Department".
Ford is married to Alison Barkley, who is a fellow diplomat. Ford is a career member of the United States Foreign Service. He entered the service in 1985 and has been stationed in İzmir, Cairo, Algiers, and Yaoundé. Ford served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Bahrain from 2001 until 2004, and Political Counselor to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2004 until 2006. Ford was nominated for the position of United States Ambassador...
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/robert_stephen_ford
