Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa
Herro Mustafa Garg: From Iraq to American Diplomacy
A Kurdish girl from Erbil who spent two years in a refugee camp and became ambassador to Bulgaria and Egypt.
- Fled
- Iraq
- Status
- Asylee (spent childhood years in a refugee camp)
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1976
- Service
- Foreign Service Officer since 1999; U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria (2019 to 2023) and to Egypt (2023 to 2026)
- Region
- Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa
Herro Mustafa was born in Erbil. Her father was a Kurdish activist who opposed Saddam Hussein, and she spent two years of her childhood in a refugee camp. A Lutheran church in Minot, North Dakota, sponsored the family's arrival in the United States in 1976.
She joined the Foreign Service in 1999. She was senior Middle East adviser to Vice President Biden, deputy chief of mission in Lisbon, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, and U.S. Ambassador to Egypt.
Read the history behind this story on the Iraq page, or browse all the diplomats.