"We need a stable democracy that will never again victimize
the Afghan people"
Karin Palmquist
The Washington Diplomat
07/09/2004
Said Tayeb Jawad became ambassador of Afghanistan
to the United States on Dec. 4, 2003.
Ambassador Jawad previously served as chief of
staff for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, as well as the president’s
spokesman, press secretary and director of the Office of International
Relations at the Presidential Palace from March 2001 to September
2003. In addition, he has worked as a writer and commentator
on Afghan and international affairs.
Ambassador Jawad was educated at the Afghan French
Lycée Istiglal in Kabul and studied law and political
science at Kabul University. In 1980, after the Soviet invasion,
he went into exile in Germany, where he studied law at the Westfaelishe
Wilhelms University. In 1986, Ambassador Jawad relocated to
New York to work for a Wall Street firm and in 1989, moved to
San Francisco and received an executive master’s of business
administration degree from Golden Gate University.
During his tenure as chief of staff to President
Karzai, Ambassador Jawad was responsible for formulating policies,
building national institutions, prioritizing reforms and implementing
the president’s directives. As a legal professional, he
has drafted legal documents and presidential decrees and reviewed
major treaties and agreements, recently assisting with the drafting
of the new Afghan constitution.
Ambassador Jawad speaks English, German,
French, Farsi and Pashto and is married to Shamim, a financial
consultant, with one son.
