September 1990, Page 78

Bulletin Board

Ambassadorial Appointments

Edward W. Gnehm, a 46-year-old career foreign service officer, was nominated in June by President Bush as the next U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. Gnehm has served in several Middle East countries, including Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, and was most recently deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank G. Wisner has been named the new ambassador to the Philippines. His replacement in Cairo will be Robert H. Pelletreau Jr., presently ambassador to Tunisia and the only U.S. official authorized to talk with the PLO before those talks were suspended.

Nominated as the new ambassador to Lebanon was Ryan C. Crocker, formerly political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt, who also served in Lebanon, Iran, Qatar, Tunisia and Iraq and, from 1985-87, as chief of the State Department's Office of Israeli and Arab-Israeli Affairs. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has been closed since September 1989 for safety reasons, following threats by Maronite Christian General Michel Aoun.

Former Ambassador to Lebanon John T. McCarthy is scheduled to spend a year as diplomat-in-residence at Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC.

Deaths

Archibald B. Roosevelt Jr., a retired intelligence officer and authority on the Middle East, died at the age of 72 of congestive heart failure. Following his experiences as an army intelligence officer in North Africa, Iraq and Iran, he joined the CIA and was stationed in Beirut, Istanbul and Spain. He was also head of the Voice of America's Near East Section from 1949 to 1951. Following his retirement in 1974, he joined Chase Manhattan Bank as vice president and director of international relations. His autobiography, "For Lust of Knowing," was published in 1988. He is survived by his wife, Selwa, former State Department chief of protocol, a son, and two grandchildren.

Syrian poet Omar Abu Riche, known throughout the Arab world for his lyric, often patriotic verses, died at the age of 80 after a long illness. In 1942, he was sentenced to death by the French authorities in Syria for his clandestinely circulated poems. In addition to verses of patriotism, he wrote love songs and spoke of history, nature and foreign lands.

Deadlines

The U.S. Institute of Peace announces that the deadline for receipt of applications for unsolicited grants is Oct. 1. Nominations and applications for Distinguished Fellows and Peace Fellows, Jennings Randolph Program, must be received by Oct. 15.

Complete information is available from the U.S. Institute of Peace, 1550 M St., NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005. The Institute's biennial report is also available through the same address.

Convenings

Middle East Peace Now will hold its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the Minnesota Church Center, 122 W. Franklin, Ave., Minneapolis, MN. Following the annual business meeting at 6:30, a special forum on "Immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel and the Occupied Territories" will feature speakers Noha Ismail, executive boardmember of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and University of Wisconsin Professor of History Stephen Feinstein.

For additional information contact Middle East Peace Now, 4720 Valley View Road, Edina, MN 55424.