Biden nominates new US ambassador to Qatar

US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate diplomat Timmy T Davis as ambassador to Qatar, according to the official website of the White House.In its introduction to the nominee, the website said Davis is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of counsellor, who most recently served as the executive assistant to the Secretary of State. Prior to that, Davis served as the US consul-general for Basrah and Southern Iraq. His overseas tours include Guatemala City, Guatemala; Najaf, Iraq; Canberra, Australia; and Bogota, Colombia. His domestic assignments include senior watch officer in the State Department Operations Centre, special assistant to the Secretary of State, director for Iraq at the National Security Council, deputy chief of staff to the Special Presidential Envoy to Counter IS, senior adviser to the counsellor of the Department, chief of staff to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs, and acting chief of staff of the Department of State. Davis, who holds a Distinguished Honour Award and multiple Superior and Meritorious Honour awards, is also the recipient of the Department’s Ryan C Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy, and the American Foreign Service Association’s William R Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent. A native of Virginia, Davis attended the University of Alabama. He served in the United States Marine Corps for nearly a decade, including operations in the Horn of Africa and Iraq, before joining the Foreign Service. Davis speaks Spanish and Arabic.