Iraq names woman ambassador to Washington 2 promote new face

[weatherlover427]

Iraq names woman ambassador to Washington to promote "new face" 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s interim government appointed Rend Rahim Francke as ambassador to the United States, the first Iraqi envoy to Washington in 13 years, in a move it said was aimed at putting across the "face of the new Iraq".

"We want to present a new image of Iraq, different from that of the old regime," said foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari as he announced her appointment.

"In years to come, Iraq will need the support of the United States," Zebari said, underscoring the significance of her appointment to "one of the most important locations for resuming our diplomatic activities."

He said he looked forward to "re-establishing full diplomatic relations with the United-States".

"With this appointment we hope to put an end to the past of conflict and war ... and establish relations characterized by mutual respect.

"Iraqi women were marginalized diplomatically and politically under the old regime. Surely, we are also sending a message here that Iraqi women will be involved in political and diplomatic activities."

Francke, who until recently was the executive director of the Washington-based, pro-democracy Iraq Foundation, welcomed the assignment as one which "has a particular character because Iraq has not been represented in the United States for 13 years".

"I want to erase the image of the detestable past. Even when the embassy was open, it was a source of fear and menace for Iraqi expatriates and not respect. My role will be to establish friendly relations with the expatriates," she said.

The new envoy said she felt her new position was an "extension" of her former job at the Iraq Foundation "defending human rights and democracy for the Iraqi people".

"My duty is to reflect the true and accurate picture of the Iraq we are in the process of building ... and to convey with truthfulness and accuracy the aspiration of the Iraqi people to rise to the level of a nation that is modern, that is developed, that can join with confidence the community of civilized nations."

Francke co-founded the Iraq Foundation in 1991 to promote democracy and human rights in Iraq and serve the 400,000-strong Iraqi community in the United States.

Although a staunch and outspoken opponent of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), she has been cautious about endorsing US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s plans for Iraq.

"In some respects, Afghanistan (news - web sites) is a case study in what not to do," she was quoted as saying in an October article in the respected London-based newsletter Janes.

"The United States cannot take the path of least resistance and regard Iraq exclusively as a military campaign, to be quickly wrapped up.

"For both Iraqis and the United States, this must be a fight not just against Iraq's past, but also for its future," she said.

She told a round-table at the American Enterprise (news - web sites) Institute for Public Policy Research last April that "Operation Iraqi Freedom does not yet have an Iraqi face to it, and this is a very disturbing factor."

Francke, who will act as head of the Iraqi interests section in Washington, which is moving from the Algerian to the Bahraini embassy, was born and partially raised in Iraq.

She said Sunday that her family had to "leave for political reasons."

She was educated in Lebanon, in the United Kingdom and France.

Francke worked as an international banker and university professor before moving to the United States in the early 1980s with her family. She currently lives in the Washington area.

She told reporters that while heading the Iraq Foundation she had "worked with Iraqis across the world, international organizations, with governments, not only with the US government but also with the European Union (news - web sites) and European governments.

"I had a great deal of practice in advocacy and diplomacy in that job and this is why I say this job as an official representative is, in some ways, a transformation of the role I performed in the 1990s."

[Lindaloo]

Well HOORAY for that. I am proud of this great accomplishment.

[weatherlover427]

I am too. Maybe one day we will have a woman president of the USA. You never know!

[streetsoldier]

At least it's a beginning...and a good one.

[Stephanie]

Very good news indeed!