CHARLES DUNBAR, SECRETARY-GENERAL'S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR WESTERN SAHARA

27 January 1998

Press Release
SG/A/665
BIO/3134

CHARLES DUNBAR, SECRETARY-GENERAL'S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR WESTERN SAHARA

19980127 Biographical Note Charles Dunbar of the United States, who has been appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as his Special Representative for Western Sahara, will assume his new responsibilities at the beginning of February.

Mr. Dunbar is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Council of World Affairs, having served for more than 30 years in various capacities at the United States Department of State. The Council has 1,300 members in north-east Ohio and organizes 50 to 60 public discussions on international affairs each year. It also provides secondary school students and teachers the opportunity to participate in foreign-affairs related programmes and workshops.

He also teaches several courses at universities in Ohio, including Middle East political economy at Case Western Reserve University and United States foreign policy at Cleveland State University.

Mr. Dunbar joined the United States foreign service in 1962. He served as an Advisor on Middle East and Islamic issues in the United States Department of State, from 1991 to 1993. In that capacity, he held discussions with Middle Eastern governments on human rights concerns and worked closely with the United States and Tunisian Governments in organizing a rule-of-law seminar in Tunis.

From 1988 to 1991, Mr. Dunbar was the United States Ambassador to Yemen. He served as a Special Assistant (for Afghanistan) to the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1985-1988); Ambassador to Qatar (1983-1985); and Chargé d'affaires in Afghanistan (1981-1983).

From 1962 to 1981, Mr. Dunbar worked in the United States embassies in Tehran, Kabul, Rabat, Algiers and Nouakchott. He also served in the United States Consulate in Isfahan, Iran. As a result of his service in Rabat, Algiers and Nouakchott, Mr. Dunbar became the leading United States government expert on the conflict in Western Sahara.

Mr. Dunbar received a Master of Arts degree from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University in 1961, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Harvard College in 1959. He speaks Arabic, French and Persian.

Born on 1 April 1937, Mr. Dunbar is married.

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