Herro Kader Mustafa Garg (; born 1973) is a Kurdish-American diplomat who had served as the United States ambassador to Egypt. She served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to March 2023.
Early life and education Mustafa was born in Erbil, in Kurdistan Region, Iraq, to a Kurdish family and spent two years of her childhood in a refugee camp."Staples, David. "Refugee Finds Her Niche from the American Heartland to the Iraqi Homeland." State Magazine July/August 2004. United States Department of State, pp. 9–10. Mustafa's family story was the subject of the documentary film American Herro. She is multilingual and speaks English, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and Greek."4 Days Left to Register for the Foreign Service Written Exam ." United States Department of State, Office of the Spokesman. March 11, 2003.
Mustafa's family sought asylum in the United States in 1976. Her father was a Kurdish political activist and an opponent of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The family was taken in by Zion Lutheran Church at Minot, North Dakota, in 1976.
Mustafa graduated from Minot High School in 1991 and earned her undergraduate degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1995 where she studied national security and the Middle East. She also received a master's degree in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1997."North Dakota Filmmakers feature Condoleezza Rice in documentary project ." Communications Corps.
Career After graduation, she directed a non-governmental organization for Kurdish studies in the U.S., traveled to Bosnia to supervise provincial elections and served as the Senior Editor for the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Mustafa joined the United States Foreign Service in 1999 and served in Athens (as a Political Officer for human rights and trafficking), Beirut (as a consular official), Washington, D.C. (as Iran desk officer at the National Security Council under Elliot Abrams), and special assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns,Rosen, Steve. "Herro Mustafa appointed Biden's Mideast adviser." Obama Mideast Monitor, Middle East Forum. March 22, 2009. and Iraq (as Coalition Provisional Authority coordinator for Nineveh under L. Paul Bremer)."Herro Mustafa MPA '97 of NSC keynote at WWS grad orientation." Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs 2005.
Mustafa was senior advisor on the Middle East to Vice President Joe Biden from March 2009Rozen, Laura. "More names: OVP, DoD." "The Cable" blog, Foreign Policy March 21, 2009. to 2011.
Mustafa once served as political minister counselor at the United States embassy in India, and has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Portugal from July 2016 to January 2017.
She carries the rank of Minister Counselor.
United States ambassador to Portugal Mustafa was United States chargée d'affaires in Portugal (i.e. acting ambassador) from the end of Robert A. Sherman's term as Ambassador on January 20, 2017 to August 25, 2017, when she was replaced by George Edward Glass also as ambassador. She drew notice for being a Muslim former refugee serving the Donald Trump administration.
United States ambassador to Bulgaria In June 2019, President Donald Trump nominated Mustafa to be the United States ambassador to Bulgaria.US ambassador-designate to Bulgaria named. (June 18, 2019). Retrieved June 18, 2019, from The Sofia Globe website: https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/06/18/us-ambassador-designate-to-bulgaria-named/ Her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019. She presented her credentials to President Rumen Radev on October 18, 2019. She served until March 1, 2023.
United States ambassador to Egypt
On March 29, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated her to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt. On October 25, 2023, her nomination was reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her nomination was confirmed by voice vote on November 1, 2023. She was sworn in on November 7, 2023. She presented her credentials on November 15, 2023.
Awards and recognition Mustafa has been nominated for the Department of State Human Rights and Democracy Achievement award and has received the Superior Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award for her work.
In 2021, Mustafa was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Award.
Personal life She is married to Ravneesh Garg with whom she has had two daughters, Ariana and Ashna.
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