THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES RYAN C. CROCKER 
              AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

The President today announced his intent to nominate Ryan C. Crocker, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as U.S. Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic.

Ambassador Crocker, of Washington, joined the Foreign Service in November 1971. After Farsi language training, he was assigned to the American Consulate in Khorramshahr, Iran in 1972. His subsequent assignment was to the newly-established embassy in Doha, Qatar in 1974 as economic/commercial officer, and in 1976, Ambassador Crocker returned to Washington for long-term Arabic training. He completed the 20-month program at the Foreign Service Institute's Arabic School in Tunis in June 1978. He was then assigned as chief of the economic/commercial section at the U.S. Interests Section in Baghdad, Iraq. Ambassador Crocker served in Beirut, Lebanon as chief of the political section from 1981 to 1984. He spent the academic year 1984-85 at Princeton University under State Department auspices pursuing course work in Near Eastern studies. He served as Deputy Director of the Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs from 1985 to 1987, and was political counselor at the American Embassy in Cairo from 1987 to 1990. Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, Ambassador Crocker became the Director of the Iraq-Kuwait Task Force. In November 1990, he was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon and served in that position until August 1993. He was named U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait in May 1994.

Ambassador Crocker attended University College in Dublin and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington where he received a B.A. degree in English Literature in 1971. He received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 1994 and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service in 1997.

-30-30-30-