By SPA
Washington : President George W. Bush on Wednesday named a Texan technology entrepreneur as the first U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Sada Cumber, a Pakistani-born Muslim, is chief executive of the Austin-based mobile imaging company SozoTek. He will be charged with improving the U.S. image within the 57-nation Islamic group, the White House said.
“The core of his mission is to explain to the Islamic world that America is a friend,” Bush said after an Oval Office meeting with Cumber.
“This is an important job. There’s a lot of misperceptions about America and Sada is going to be a part of our effort to explain the truth,” Bush said.
“Now, a lot of people love America, don’t get me wrong. After all, there’s a lot of people trying to come here because of what we stand for. But we’ve got work to do in certain areas. And I can’t thank you enough for going, and really will strongly support you in your work,” Bush said to Cumber during a press availability at the White House.
Bush first announced that he would nominate a U.S. envoy to the OIC, the largest grouping of Islamic nations, eight months ago.
Asked why it took so long to find a candidate, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “The president wanted to find the right person and he found that in Sada Cumber.”
“The president is signaling our desire to have a greater … dialogue with the organization as well as Muslims around the world,” Perino said.
Cumber was born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1951. He immigrated to the United States in 1978 and has been a U.S. citizen since 1986, the White House said.