Editing Omar Samad

{{Infobox person 
| name = Omar Samad
| image = Omar Samad, BBC Persian - Feb 28, 2019.jpg
| caption = Omar Samad on BBC Persian, 28 February 2019 
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| education = [[American University]]<br/>[[Tufts University]]
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| occupation = Diplomat
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| spouse = Khorshied Samad
| children = 2
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'''Omar Samad''' is the former Senior Advisor to [[Abdullah Abdullah]], the former Chief Executive of [[Afghanistan]] from 2014 to 2020. He served as the Afghan Ambassador to Canada from 2004 to 2009, and to France from 2009 to 2011. He was a Senior Central Asia Fellow at the [[New America Foundation]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] 2013-14, after working as Senior Afghan Expert at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. 2012-13.

==Early life==
Samad graduated from [[American University]] in [[Washington D.C.]], where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and International Affairs in 1991.<ref name="usip">{{cite web|url=http://www.usip.org/experts/ambassador-omar-samad|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521125845/http://www.usip.org/experts/ambassador-omar-samad|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 21, 2012|title=Omar Samad|publisher=United States Institute of Peace|accessdate=7 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="newamerica">{{Cite web |url=http://newamerica.net/user/547 |title=New America Foundation: Omar Samad |access-date=2015-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328033121/http://newamerica.net/user/547 |archive-date=2015-03-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received a Master's degree in International Relations (GMAP) from [[The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] at [[Tufts University]] in [[Massachusetts]] in 2006.<ref name="usip"/><ref name="newamerica"/>

==Career==
Samad worked in the IT private sector field in the US between 1981 and 2001 with corporations such as Datacrown Inc, [[Electronic Data Systems]] (EDS) and [[Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]] (WMATA). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he advocated for freedom and democracy in Afghanistan.<ref name="usip"/> In 1996, he launched Azadi Afghan Radio and its website as part of the Afghanistan Information Center, based in [[Virginia]].<ref name="usip"/><ref name="newamerica"/> Following the September 11th attacks, he worked as a commentator and analyst for [[CNN]] during the Bonn Accords on Afghanistan.<ref name="usip"/>

He served as the Afghan Ambassador to Canada from October 2004 to June 2009, and to Ambassador to France from June 2009 to July 2011.<ref name="usip"/><ref name="newamerica"/> He was accredited as the first Afghan non-resident Ambassador to the [[Chile]] (2008) and Principality of [[Monaco]] (2010). During his diplomatic career (2001 to 2011), he was a member of Afghan delegations to the UN, NAM, Islamic Conferences and specialized conferences on Afghanistan, including the Tokyo (2002) and Berlin (2004) reconstruction conferences. He represented the Foreign Ministry on the Tripartite Security Commission with Afghanistan-US-Pakistan.<ref name="usip"/><ref name="newamerica"/> He was Afghanistan Senior Expert in residence at the [[United States Institute of Peace]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] from January 2012 till January 2013.<ref name="usip"/>

He was the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs<ref name="Garcia2009">{{cite book|last=Garcia|first=J. Malcolm|title=The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4PIwbpuEDSoC&pg=PA116|accessdate=7 June 2012|date=2009-09-02|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=9780807000571|pages=116–}}</ref> in Kabul from December 2001 to September 2004 and Director General of the Information and Media Division, during which he also served as an advisor, speech-writer and member of the Ministry's reform committee.<ref name="usip"/><ref name="newamerica"/>

He was a Senior Central Asia Fellow at the [[New America Foundation]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="newamerica"/> and President of Silkroad Consulting LLC.<ref name="newamerica"/> before being appointed as Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive of Afghanistan in the National Unity Government formed after elections in 2014.

==Personal life==
Samad is divorced from Khorshied Nusratty with whom he has two children, Soleiman and Arman.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{AfghanDiplomats}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samad, Omar}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American University School of Communication alumni]]
[[Category:The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni]]
[[Category:Afghan diplomats]]
[[Category:Afghan Muslims]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Afghanistan to Canada]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Afghanistan to France]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Afghanistan to Monaco]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Afghanistan to Chile]]
[[Category:American University School of International Service alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]