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US Department of State appoints special representative to Muslim Communities

27 June 2009 11:05 (UTC +04:00)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Farah Pandith would play a leading role in US efforts to "engage Muslims around the world".
She said Ms Pandith, who was born in Indian-administered Kashmir, would bring years of experience to the role.
The State Department said on its website Ms Pandith, who is a Muslim, would be responsible for helping US efforts to "engage with Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organisational level".
Pandith was the senior adviser on Muslim engagement in the European and Eurasian region at the State Department. The position was created for the first time in the US history. Prior to the State Department, she served on the National Security Council at the White House where she worked on Muslim engagement and combating extremism. She worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the early 1990s and again in 2003. She also served in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2004.

Pandith, a Muslim, immigrated to the United States with her parents from Srinagar, India. She has said that she sees her personal experience as an illustration of how Muslim immigrants to the US can successfully integrate themselves into American society. She grew up in Massachusetts with a diversity of faiths, ethnicities and perspectives.