– On Wednesday, US President Joseph Biden proposed Richard H. Riley as the country’s new envoy to Somalia.
Larry André, the US ambassador to Somalia since January 2022, will be replaced by Riley as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Richard H. Riley IV is a career Minister-Counselor in the Senior Foreign Service class. In Canada’s Ottawa, he holds the position of Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs in the American Embassy.
Prior to this, Riley served as the consul general at the US embassy in Peshawar, Pakistan. He has also held senior leadership positions at the U.S. embassies in Oslo, Norway, Sana’a, Yemen, and Kabul, Afghanistan. He served as Charge d’Affaires, Ad Interim, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Senior Civilian Representative (Team Leader) at the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Nangahar Province, Afghanistan.
He previously held the positions of Senior Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights at the American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Deputy Team Leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Dhi Qar (Nassiriyah), Iraq, and Deputy Director of the Office of Egypt and Levant Affairs at the Department of State.
Riley has also served in Kingston, Jamaica, Beijing and Chengdu, China, Moscow, Russia, and London, England.