Riyadh (Web Desk): Saudi Arabia has named a Princess Reema bint Bandar as its first woman ambassador to the United States.
Princess Reema replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince.
Princess Reema was raised in Washington, graduated from George Washington University and is the daughter of a former Saudi ambassador to the US. She has worked in the kingdom to expand opportunities for women in a nation that has historically downgraded the role of women in society.
أرفع أصدق عبارات الشكر والامتنان لمقام مولاي خادم الحرمين الشريفين وسمو سيدي ولي العهد -حفظهما الله- على هذه الثقة الكريمة الغالية بتعيني سفيرة في الولايات المتحدة الامريكية
وسأعمل بإذن الله لخدمة وطني وقادته وكافة أبنائه
ولن أدخر جهداً في سبيل ذلك ????????????????
— Reema Bandar Al-Saud (@rbalsaud) February 23, 2019
The princess previously worked at the kingdom’s General Sports Authority, where she led a campaign to increase women’s participation in sports.
Prince Khalid bin Salman, the previous ambassador to the US, abruptly left the US in October last year as the kingdom began to be pressed over its varying explanations for journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and murder in Istanbul, and did not return until December.
The Saudi government has denied he had anything to do with the murder of Mr Khashoggi, a royal insider-turned-critic who was a columnist with the Washington Post.
