Imad Moustapha (; born 11 March 1959) is a former
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n Ambassador to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Biography
Imad Moustapha was born in
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
on 11 March 1952.
He was Dean of the Faculty of
Information Technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
(IT) at the
University of Damascus, and Secretary General of the Arab School on Science and Technology. He is a co-founder of the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad (NOSSTIA). This organization was involved in establishing
Meedan
Meedan is a technology not-for-profit that builds software and programmatic initiatives to strengthen journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information online and off.
Meedan builds an open-source software platform for fact-checking ...
, "a non-profit social technology company which aims to increase cross-language interaction on the web, with particular emphasis on translation and aggregation services in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and
English."
Media
Imad Moustapha regularly writes in the print media and appears on television, representing the Syrian government position. He has also occasionally appeared at public lectures, think-tanks, and world-affairs councils.
Personal
His wide range of interests include: globalization, cultural identities, social and economic impacts of the Internet, and Western classical music.
Allegations of espionage
On 25 June 2011, the Washington Bureau chief of Kuwaiti newspaper
Al Rai reported in
NOW Lebanon that Ambassador Mustapha was engaged in various espionage activities, as well as threats to Syrians living in the US. Facing possible repercussions from an
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
investigation into the matter, Mustapha moved to China in February 2012. According to CNN political analyst
Josh Rogin in 2017, before Mustapha departed for Beijing he had left in place a network of friends, Syrian Americans and others who had close ties to the regime and would lobby on
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator
Sources characterising Assad as a dictator:
who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
's behalf.
See also
*
University of Damascus
*
United Nations Development Program
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries Poverty reduction, eliminate poverty and achieve Sustainable development, sustainable economic growth and Human development (economics), hu ...
*
(UNESCO)
*
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA; ) is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The role of the Commission is to promote economic and social d ...
References
External links
*
*
The Washington Diplomat Newspaper - Ambassador Profile Murder in Abou Kamal* (Other information in this article as of 26 August 2006 is from Imad Moustapha's personal blog - https://web.archive.org/web/20100105115626/http://imad_moustapha.blogs.com/ - Accessed 19 June 2006. And fro
Forward Magazinewhere he is a regular contributing writer.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moustapha, Imad
1952 births
People from Aleppo
Damascus University alumni
Alumni of the University of Surrey
Ambassadors of Syria to the United States
Ambassadors of Syria to China
Living people
21st-century diplomats