Home2019 Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission ...Tsou, Leslie Meredith – Sultanate of Oman -July 2019 hide Tsou, Leslie Meredith – Sultanate of Oman -July 2019 Certificate of Competency July 9, 2019 REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4) POST: Sultanate of Oman CANDIDATE: Leslie Meredith Tsou Leslie M. Tsou, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counselor, is currently serving as the first Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. She was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv from 2016 to 2017. She previously served as Senior Advisor for Iran (2015-2016), and Director of the Office of Iranian Affairs (2012-2015), in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau at the Department of State. She was Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq (2011-2012) and Director of Arabian Peninsula Affairs on the National Security Staff at the White House (2010-2011). She was the first U.S. diplomat to return to Libya when the United States reestablished relations in 2004, and served as its first Deputy Principal Officer from 2004 to 2005. She was also a member of the U.S. negotiating team that led to the settlement of the Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing. Ms. Tsou’s career assignments in posts across the Middle East and in Europe, interagency experience, and leadership responsibilities have prepared her well to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Oman. Ms. Tsou was Deputy Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau of the Department of State in 2010, and served at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom from 2005 to 2009. Early in her career she served in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Warsaw, Poland, and in several positions in the Department of State, including in the Secretary of State’s office. Ms. Tsou earned a B.S. at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is the recipient of numerous Department of State awards, including the 2003 Director General Award for Reporting. She speaks Arabic and Polish.
