São Paulo – Last Thursday (8th) in Doha, the Brazilian ambassador Anuar Nahes was paid tribute by the Qatari emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, according to the Qatar News Agency. Nahes is leaving his post in the Qatari capital, in which he remained for the last four years, to reopen the Brazilian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, which has been closed for 20 years.
During the ceremony in which he handed the sash to the Brazilian diplomat, the Qatari emir said the present was an acknowledgement of his “to the tremendous efforts he exerted for further enhancing ties of cooperation between the two countries.” The emir wished Nahes success in his new assignments, and further development and prosperity to bilateral relations. Nahes, in turn, gave thanks to all Qatari state officials for their support and cooperation.
The holder of a degree in Language and Pedagogy, a former musician and former Portuguese teacher, Nahes, a grandson of Syrians, has been a diplomat for nearly 30 years. He has served on the Brazilian mission to the United Nations (UN), in New York, Paris, Caracas, Damascus, and Tunis, and he has headed the Near East Division of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. Now, he is heading for Iraq.
There, Nahes will look after the interests of both Brazil and Iraq, discuss means of cooperation, and present successful Brazilian projects that could potentially thrive in Iraq as well. In an interview to ANBA last August, however, Nahes claimed that his first challenge will be to map out the political workings of Iraq and help Brazil represent itself in the country, which has undergone structural changes.
He also said Brazil may be a partner in the reconstruction of Iraq, and remembered that Iraq was a major trade partner of Brazil’s in the 1970s and 1980s. “Iraq is a rich country, but it must rebuild itself, and Brazil is capable of taking part in that process,” he told ANBA.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
