July 13, 1998

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES CHRISTOPHER W. S. ROSS FOR RANK OF AMBASSADOR

                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                         July 13, 1998


            PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES CHRISTOPHER W. S. ROSS FOR
                            RANK OF AMBASSADOR

     The President today announced his intent to nominate Christopher W. S.
Ross for the Rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Coordinator
for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

     Ambassador Christopher Ross, of Los Angeles, California, entered the
Foreign Service in 1968, as an officer of the U.S. Information Agency.  In
this capacity, he served successively in Libya, Morocco, Lebanon, and
Algeria.  In 1979, he entered service on detail to the Department of State,
serving successively as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d?Affaires of
the American Embassy in Algeria (1970-81), Public Affairs Adviser to the
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
(1981-82), Special Assistant to the Special Presidential Envoys to Lebanon
and the Middle East (1982-84), Director of Regional Affairs of the Bureau
of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs of the Department of State
(1984-88), Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs (1985-88), Ambassador to Algeria (1988-91), and
Ambassador to Syria (1991-98).

     Ambassador Ross attended Princeton University, obtaining an A.B.
degree in Oriental (Middle Eastern) Studies in 1965.  He also attended the
School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University,
obtaining an M.A. in International Relations in 1967.  Ambassador Ross
speaks Arabic, French, and Greek.

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