Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs

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The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), headed by Assistant Secretary C. David Welch, deals with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. diplomatic relations with Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Regional policy issues that NEA handles include Iraq, Middle East peace, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and political and economic reform. Clickable Map

Announcement of General James Jones as Special Envoy for Middle East Security  
Secretary Rice (Nov. 28): "Today it is my pleasure to announce General Jim Jones as my new Special Envoy for Middle East Security. Building security in the Middle East is the surest path to making peace in the Middle East and General Jones is the best individual to lead our efforts in this essential endeavor." Full Text 

President Bush Attends Iftaar Dinner at the White House
President Bush (Oct. 4): "Tonight we celebrate traditions of Islamic faith, which brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people. For Muslims around the world, the holy month of Ramadan is a special time of prayer and fasting. It is a time for charity and service to those less fortunate. It's a time to celebrate Islam's learned and vibrant culture, which has enriched civilization for centuries."  [full text}

Secretary Rice in Middle East To Prepare for Peace Conference
Secretary Rice (Sept. 19): "We focused fairly intensively for most of the time on the dialogue that is going on between the Palestinians and Israelis. ...I said to the Foreign Minister what I will say to all Israeli leaders, that we want to be as supportive as possible of this bilateral dialogue. We are hopeful that it can move forward to common understandings of a way forward to the creation of a Palestinian state so that two states can live side by side in peace and freedom. We did have other discussions, including about Iran and very briefly about Lebanon and the importance of the support for the democratic government there, but also the need to make certain that 1701 is carried out." [full text | more on the Secretary's trip | photo gallery]

Provincial Reconstruction Teams: Working at Grassroots Level
Ms. Hagerstrom, Team Leader (Aug. 24): "Ramadi was written off as lost, in fact ... this was declared by al-Qaeda to be their capital of the caliphate in Iraq. [A]fter the abuse by al-Qaeda, ... the population, led by the sheiks, the local tribal leaders, took them on and helped, ... and joined with coalition forces to push ...al-Qaeda out of the city." [Full Text; View Video]

U.S. Assistance to the Middle East
Under Secretary R. Nicholas Burns: "We'll be going out to the Middle East at some point this month basically to strengthen our security relations with our friends in the Middle East. It's now, I think without any question, the most vital area for the United States, what happens in the Middle East, in Iraq certainly, where we have 160,000 troops in Iran and we're trying to prevent the Iranians from becoming a nuclear weapons power." [more]

Middle East Digest
The "Middle East Digest" is a collection of excerpts from the U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefings that are related to U.S. foreign policy interests in the Middle East.