[ CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION]

Omar SAMAD took up his posting as Afghan Ambassador to Canada in September 2004. Prior to his arrival to Canada, he was the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan, and as Director General, in charge of several departments for three years.

Born in Kabul in 1961, he attended primary and secondary schooling in Paris, London and in Kabul. He fled Afghanistan in 1979 following the Communist coup d’etat and settled in the United States where he helped promote the cause of freedom and democracy in Afghanistan. As a student he was the President of the Afghan Students Association and later the Afghan Youth Council in America.

For several years, Mr. Samad worked in the field of Information Technology, while pursuing a second career in media, initially with ABC News and later as a freelance television producer and print media analyst. In 1996, he launched Azadi Afghan Radio with broadcasts in several US cities, and oversaw the Afghanistan Information Center based in Virginia. In 2001 he provided commentary for the international media, including CNN at the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan prior to his return to his homeland in late 2001.

Ambassador Samad has represented Afghanistan at numerous conferences, including the Afghanistan Reconstruction conferences in Tokyo (2002) and Berlin (2004), UN General Assembly sessions (2002, 2003), Non-aligned Movement and Organization of Islamic Countries summit meetings, and other specialized conferences on Afghanistan since 2002. He represented the Afghan Foreign Ministry on the Tripartite Commission on security between the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr. Samad is fluent in French and English. He is married to Khorshied Samad and they have two sons.