Ricciardone will assume his post, to be vacated by outgoing Ambassador James Jeffrey, after his nomination is confirmed by the US Senate. Jeffrey, the US ambassador in Ankara since December 2008, was recently nominated as the new US envoy to Iraq and is expected to leave Ankara in the next few weeks. He will replace Christopher Hill, who began serving as ambassador in Baghdad in April 2009.
Ricciardone has served as deputy ambassador and chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Afghanistan since 2009. According to a White House biography, he also served as ambassador to Egypt until 2008 and earlier as ambassador to the Philippines and Palau.
Ricciardone is no stranger to Turkey. He began his career in Ankara and Adana and served twice again in Turkey: as political advisor to the US and Turkish commanders of Operation Provide Comfort at İncirlik Air Base and as deputy chief of mission in Ankara. He led the transition to an organization of the US Embassy in Baghdad in 2004, and the Department of State’s task force in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He served as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s special representative for the transition of Iraq from 1999-2001.
