Ambassador Omar Rifai - Biographical data


Ambassador Omar Rifai is a graduate of Harvard University (1974), Oxford University (1975) and Georgetown University (1991). His area of concentration was Political Science and International Relations. He is fluent in English and French, (Arabic mother tongue).

Dr. Rifai joined the Jordanian Diplomatic Service in 1975 and served in Jordan's missions in Cairo, Berne, New York, London and Washington from 1976 to 1994. Between 1994-1996, he held the position of Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Director of the Special Bureau at the Foreign Ministry in Amman, as well as being a member of the Jordanian delegation to the Jordan-Israel peace talks. In 1996, Dr. Rifai was sworn in as Ambassador and in that capacity he held the following positions:

1. Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Israel 1996 - 2000
2. Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Italy and Permanent Representative of Jordan to the U.N Agencies in Rome 2000 - 2003
3. Non- Resident Ambassador to Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and San Marino 2000 - 2003
4. Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2003 - 2005
5. Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the Arab League in Cairo 2005 - 2008
6. Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008

During the period 2004- 2005, and again in 2009, Dr. Rifai was also a part-time lecturer in Political Science at the University of Jordan.

Dr. Rifai holds a number of Jordanian and foreign decorations.

He is married and has five children.