"Ambassador Ross has had a long and distinguished career with the United States government, including appointments as Ambassador to Algeria and Syria," said, on Wednesday, State Department Deputy Spokesman, Robert Wood in a press statement, noting that the U.S.  "looks forward to his continuation of the excellent work of his predecessor Peter van Walsum, whose intellectual leadership, professionalism, and dedication were exemplary."

    "With the efforts made during the previous rounds of talks and the other developments that have taken place since 2006, we look forward to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1754, 1783, and 1813," the document said, welcoming "the prospect of a further round of talks between Morocco and the Polisario early in 2009."

    The American diplomat was appointed a few hours ago by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

     "Mr. Ross will work with the parties and neighboring countries based on the most recent Security Council Resolution 1813 and previous resolutions, building on progress made to date, in pursuit of a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution," UNSG spokesperson, Michele Montas had told reporters at the UN headquarters.

    UNSG Ban Ki-moon is "grateful to Mr. van Walsum for his dedicated service on the important issue of Western Sahara," Montas said.

    Ross, 66, has had a long career with the US State Department in which he worked on Middle Eastern and North African affairs. He mainly served as an ambassador to Syria and to Algeria, and was most recently Senior Adviser for the MENA at the US Mission to the UN.

     After retiring in 1999, Ross returned to active service to help coordinate U.S. public diplomacy toward the Arab and Muslim worlds (2001-2003), then to serve as Senior Advisor to the US Embassy in Baghdad (2004) and Special Advisor in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, working on Iraq.

    From 2006-2007, he was Senior Advisor to the U.S. Delegations to the U.N. General Assembly. He had also served as director of the American language center in Fez, Morocco.

  The new personal envoy for the Sahara has a Bachelor degree in Oriental (Near Eastern) studies from Princeton University, and a Master of Arts in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies from Johns Hopkins University. He speaks English, Arabic and French, and has taught Arabic at Columbia and Princeton Universities.
Source: MAP
News and events on Western Sahara issue / Corcas