U.S. Envoy Is to Be Link to Muslims
WASHINGTON — President Obama has appointed Rashad Hussain, a deputy White House counsel, to be his representative to the Muslim world, White House officials said Saturday.
Mr. Hussain will become the special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an intergovernmental group with 57 member states that calls itself the collective voice of Muslims.
“Appointing a special envoy to the O.I.C. is an important part of the president’s commitment to engaging Muslims around the world based on mutual respect and mutual interest,” the White House said in a statement.
Mr. Hussein will replace Sada Cumber, who had been appointed to the post by President George W. Bush.
Mr. Hussain, who is Muslim, will work to strengthen cooperation between the United States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the White House said. In addition, he will seek to counter any disparaging images of the United States in the Muslim world, and in particular will look to correct distortions of Americans disseminated by Al Qaeda. His appointment was first reported on Saturday by ABC News.
As deputy associate counsel to Mr. Obama, Mr. Hussain has focused on national security, new media and science issues. He worked with other White House staff members on Mr. Obama’s speech to the Muslim world from Cairo last June. Previously, he worked as a trial lawyer at the Justice Department and served as a legislative assistant on the House Judiciary Committee.
He is the second person to fill this position. In June 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would establish an envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Sada Cumber, a Pakistani-American businessman from Austin, Tex., became the first American envoy to that organization in March 2008.
The White House also has another representative to reach out to the Muslim world, Farah Pandith, who became the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities last September.
Mr. Hussain will become the special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an intergovernmental group with 57 member states that calls itself the collective voice of Muslims.
“Appointing a special envoy to the O.I.C. is an important part of the president’s commitment to engaging Muslims around the world based on mutual respect and mutual interest,” the White House said in a statement.
Mr. Hussein will replace Sada Cumber, who had been appointed to the post by President George W. Bush.
Mr. Hussain, who is Muslim, will work to strengthen cooperation between the United States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the White House said. In addition, he will seek to counter any disparaging images of the United States in the Muslim world, and in particular will look to correct distortions of Americans disseminated by Al Qaeda. His appointment was first reported on Saturday by ABC News.
As deputy associate counsel to Mr. Obama, Mr. Hussain has focused on national security, new media and science issues. He worked with other White House staff members on Mr. Obama’s speech to the Muslim world from Cairo last June. Previously, he worked as a trial lawyer at the Justice Department and served as a legislative assistant on the House Judiciary Committee.
He is the second person to fill this position. In June 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would establish an envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Sada Cumber, a Pakistani-American businessman from Austin, Tex., became the first American envoy to that organization in March 2008.
The White House also has another representative to reach out to the Muslim world, Farah Pandith, who became the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities last September.
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