Anwar: The Most Trusted & Important Appointee of the U.S. State Department for the Foundation for the Future

Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim said:

“I was invited to be part of the Foundation’s Board of Directors in mid-2006 along with the representatives from Morocco, Kuwait, Iraq, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Switzerland and Qatar.”

In general, the Foundation of the Future has three committees, namely:

1. The Selection Committee
2. The Executive Committee
3. The Board of Directors

All the committees were selected and approved by the U.S. Department of State.

According to a statement released by the spokesperson’s office in Washington DC on February 2, 2006:

“After consultations among civil society representatives and government officials from the U.S., Europe, the Broader Middle East and North Africa, it was announced today that Rahma Bourqia of Morocco, Bakhtiar Amin of Iraq and Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia will serve as the 'selection committee' to appoint the board of directors for the Broader Middle East and North Africa Foundation for the Future"

The list of committee members of the foundation are as follows:

A. Selection Committee (three members) as announced
on 2 February 2006:

1. Anwar Ibrahim (Malaysia)
2. Rahma Bourqia (Morocco)
3. Bakhtiar Amin (Iraq)

B. Executive Committee (five members) as announced during the meeting in Doha on 15 July 2006.

1. Anwar Ibrahim
2. Rahma Bourqia
3. Bakhtiar Amin
4. Sandra Day O’Connor (U.S.)
5. Dr Cornelio Sommaruga (Switzerland)

C. Board of Directors (14 members) as announced on 15 July 2006 in Doha.

1. Anwar Ibrahim (Chairman/Malaysia)
2. Rahma Bouqia (Vice Chairman/Morocco)
3. Kamel Abu Jaber (Treasurer/Jordan)
4. Laila al Hamad (Secretary/Kuwait)
5. Bakhtiar Amin (Iraq)
6. Sandra Day O’Connor (U.S.)
7. Cornelio Sommaruga (Switzerland)
8. Burhan Ghalioun (Syria)
9. Andreu Claret Serra (Spain)
10. Ibrahim Kalin (Turkey)
11. Jamil Mroue (Lebanon)
12. Abdul Rahman al Rashed (Saudi Arabia)
13. Naguib Sawiris (Egypt)
14. Juhaina Sultan al-Easa (Qatar)

Based on the priority in the listing it is obvious that the U.S. Department of State saw Anwar Ibrahim as the most trusted and important appointee in all three committees. In a foundation meeting held in Bahrain on 31 May 2006, Anwar announced that he was also appointed as the President of the Foundation.

Besides Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, another person also deemed most trusted by the U.S. Department of State was Sandra O’Connor. A statement released through the office of the spokesman in Washington DC on 8 June 2006 said,

“The Department of State is pleased to announce that former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has agreed to serve as the US Representative to the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Foundation for the future"