Bush Names New Envoy to Kingdom

Bush wants democracy in Saudi Arabia

Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 15 February 2007 — Ford M. Fraker, a financial executive with decades of experience in the Middle East, has been named by President George W. Bush to be the new US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the White House said.

“He’s a political appointee, so no one in the [State] Department knows him. But he has experience in Saudi Arabia, which is good. He’s been there, and he knows Saudis and the Middle East,” said a Middle East expert at State Department, on background.

If confirmed by the Senate, Fraker would replace James Oberwetter, who has served in the post since December 2003.

Fraker, 58, is currently chairman of the Trinity Group Ltd., a private investment banking firm he established in 1996, and is a to Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation, according to the White House.

Trinity Group said on its website it has placed $2.5 billion in investment products, primarily with institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East. It said it planned to expand its operations this year into the Middle East and the United States.

Earlier in his career, he served as head of banking for Saudi International Bank. Fraker received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

A biography on Trinity’s Internet site says Fraker became Chemical Bank’s assistant representative in Beirut in 1974, then set up their first Arabian Gulf office in Dubai before becoming vice president and regional manager in Bahrain.

In 1979, he joined a J.P. Morgan affiliate in London — Saudi International Bank — where he was a division head for the Middle East, among other posts, according to the site.

In 1991, Fraker established Fraker and Co. in London, raising capital for clients from Middle Eastern institutions and private investors. He continued this work for three years as a managing director of MeesPierson Investment Finance (UK) Ltd. before co-founding Trinity Group, according to the site.

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