Bahrain: Jewish woman confirmed as US ambassador

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa on Sunday confirmed and defended his government's plans to appoint a Jewish woman, Huda Nunu, as ambassador to the US. "Nunu was chosen because she is a Bahraini like her father," the minister said, as quoted by the state-run Bahrain News Agency (BNA). He confirmed that his government had informed Washington of its intention to appoint Nunu to the post and was awaiting its response before naming her officially.

At the end of May a senior Bahraini official told newswire AFP, on condition of anonymity, that Nunu was to be named ambassador to Washington and stressed the move - the first for an Arab country - was "not a public relations exercise". He said King Hamad had informed US officials during a visit to Washington in March of Bahrain's intention to appoint Nunu. The Jewish population in Bahrain amounts to no more than 37 among a total of around 530,000 people.

"This move is not propaganda," the official had added. "It reflects a climate of tolerance towards minorities in Bahrain," which is ruled by a Sunni dynasty and has a disgruntled Shi'ite majority.

Nunu was appointed to the Shura (consultative) Council - the upper chamber of parliament in 2006. Bahrain is the only Arab Gulf country to have a Jewish community. Their numbers are believed to have been 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 that were present in the then British protectorate. Nunu will be the third Bahraini woman to be appointed as an ambassador. Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa was the country's ambassador to France, while Shi'ite Bibi Alawi was appointed a few months ago as envoy to China.

-- AFP