WORLD_ Former Envoy to Syria Said to Be Choice for Cairo Post

Former Envoy to Syria Said to Be Choice for Cairo Post

By MICHAEL R. GORDON
The New York Times
Published: August 4, 2013


 WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry has recommended that Robert S. Ford serve as the next American ambassador to Egypt, American officials said Sunday, a critical role at a time of rising turmoil and anti-Americanism in the traditional Arab ally.

 Mr. Ford, a longtime Middle East hand and fluent Arabic speaker, is well known for taking an active role as ambassador to Syria in challenging President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown before American diplomats were pulled out of the country for their own safety.

 With Egypt in a state of political upheaval, the ambassadorial pick for Cairo has emerged as one of the most important diplomatic assignments for President Obama, who made a warmly received policy speech to the Islamic world in Cairo in June 2009.

 But four years later, the Obama administration’s influence has substantially waned, and Egypt’s bitter rivals — the secular liberals and the supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the ousted president — have each accused Washington of undermining their cause.

 The next American ambassador has the difficult task of repairing the United States’ image, expanding its influence and working with opposing groups inside the country, as well as diplomats from Arab and European nations, to try to stabilize Egypt and put it on a democratic course.

 Mr. Ford could not be reached, and the State Department declined to comment on Mr. Kerry’s recommendation. As with all ambassadorial appointments, the recommendation needs to be approved by Mr. Obama.

 Mr. Ford, whose likely nomination for the Cairo post was reported last week by the online publication Al-Monitor, has also served as ambassador to Algeria and did multiple tours in Iraq, including one as a representative of the American occupation authority in Najaf, where he was briefly detained at gunpoint in 2003 by the Badr Corps militia.

 He also participated in the strategy review that Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker oversaw in Baghdad on how to carry out the military surge in 2007.

 Mr. Ford served in the economic section of the American Embassy in Cairo from 1988 to 1991 and studied Arabic in the country in the early 1980s.

 Most Americans are likely to know of him from his time in Syria. His nomination to serve as the chief American envoy in Damascus was initially held up by senators who were opposed to the policy of filling the vacant ambassador post in Mr. Assad’s Syria because of Syria’s meddling in Lebanon.

 Mr. Obama used a recess appointment to install him. As opposition built to Mr. Assad, Ambassador Ford visited the restive city of Hama in July 2011 and attended a funeral for a slain activist. He was a sharp critic of the Assad government’s repression and used the embassy’s Web site to present his version of events. But he also urged that demonstrations be peaceful.

 In September 2011, a pro-government mob tried to break down the door when Mr. Ford went to a meeting with Hassan Abdel-Azim, an opposition figure in Damascus. An American Embassy security detail was sent to the scene, but two of the vehicles were attacked with iron bars and concrete blocks and destroyed. After four hours, the Syrian police finally arrived and Mr. Ford was able to return to the embassy.

The next month, Mr. Ford was recalled to the United States because of threats to his safety.

 He returned to Damascus in December, but in February 2012, as the security situation in Syria sharply deteriorated, the American Embassy was closed. He later became the chief American envoy to the Syrian opposition, a position he still holds.

 The Cairo post has been a difficult one to fill, in part because of confusion in Egypt about American policy. Anne W. Patterson, who served since 2011 as the American ambassador in Cairo and was recently nominated for a senior State Department post, became a lightning rod for both sides and was assailed as a defender of the status quo by critics of Mr. Morsi before his ouster.

 “Part of the problem Anne Patterson faced was a vacuum in policy,” said Vali Nasr, the dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “If she went and met with the Muslim Brotherhood, it was construed that she was pro-Brotherhood.

 “If she met with the military, the Brotherhood thought she was giving a green light to a coup.”

 With long experience in the region, including in a country that has been convulsed by the Arab Spring, Mr. Ford would bring considerable background to the job. But Mr. Nasr said that Mr. Ford would face the same dilemma unless the Obama administration were engaged and more explicit about its aims.

 On Thursday, the White House nominated Ms. Patterson to serve as the assistant secretary of state in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which oversees the Middle East.

 Her appointment and that of Mr. Ford, if he is nominated by Mr. Obama as expected, are subject to Senate confirmation. No major opposition was expected.

 A version of this article appeared in print on August 5, 2013, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Former Envoy To Syria Said To Be Choice For Cairo Post.


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