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Bahrain Confirms Jewish Woman as New Envoy to US
Agence France-Presse - 04 July, 2008
Bahrain, a close US ally, announced on Thursday that it has appointed a Jewish
woman as its ambassador in Washington, a first for an Arab country.
King Hamad issued a decree naming Huda Nunu as head of the Gulf state's
diplomatic mission in the United States, the official BNA news agency reported.
Her appointment had been anticipated since May, and Bahraini officials have
denied it is a public relations stunt.
There are just 37 Jews in the tiny Gulf kingdom of around 530,000 Bahrainis.
"This move is not propaganda," an official told AFP in May. "It
reflects a climate of tolerance towards minorities in Bahrain," which is
ruled by a Sunni dynasty and has a disgruntled Shiite majority.
Nunu was appointed to the Shura (consultative) Council -- the upper chamber of
parliament -- in 2006.
Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, is the only Arab state in the Gulf to
have a Jewish community. Their numbers were higher at the turn of the 20th
century, but dwindled following the creation of Israel in 1948.
Nunu's grandfather, Ibrahim Nunu, represented the Jewish community in Bahrain's
municipal council formed by the British authorities in 1919.
The council had representatives of all religious and ethnic communities in the
then British protectorate.
Nunu is the third Bahraini woman to be appointed ambassador. Sheikha Haya
al-Khalifa was the country's ambassador to France, and Shiite Bibi Alawi was
appointed a few months ago as envoy to China.