Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad

Prince Zeid
Spouse	Sarah Butler
Issue
Prince Ra'ad Princess Hala
Dynasty	Hashemite dynasty
Father	Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid
Mother	Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind
Born	26 January 1964 (1964-01-26) Amman, Jordan

Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein was born 26 January 1964 in Amman, Jordan to Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid head of the Royal Houses of Iraq and Syria and pretender to the Iraqi throne and his Swedish-born wife Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind, henceforward known as Majda Raad. He is Jordan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a post he already held previously for six and a half years (2000–2007). From 2007-2010 he served as Jordan's Ambassador to the United States and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico.

Education and career

He was educated at Reed's School, Surrey before gaining a B.A. in 1987 from Johns Hopkins University, where he was an important member of the University's rugby club. He received a Ph.D. from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1993.

Prince Zeid is Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a post he held previously for six and a half years from 2000-2007. From 2007-2010 he was Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States of America. He also served as Jordan’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, with the rank of Ambassador, from 1996-2000.

Prince Zeid is currently Chairman of the Country-Specific Configuration (of the UN Peace Building Commission) for Liberia. He also chairs the search committee for the selection of the next prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and is Jordan’s “Sherpa” on Nuclear Security. With reference to the International Criminal Court and from 1996-2010 he was:

• President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002–2005).
• Chairman of the informal negotiations on the ‘elements’ of the individual offenses falling under the crimes of: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes(1999-200).
• Chairman of the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in Kampala (June 2010).

While at the UN (1996–2006) he further chaired the Consultative Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) from 2004–2007 and, from 2004–2006, he was the ‘Advisor to the Secretary-General on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN peacekeeping.’

He served as a political affairs officer in UNPROFOR in the former Yugoslavia from February 1994 to February 1996.

In 1989, he also received his commission as an officer in the Jordanian desert police (the successor to the Arab Legion) and saw service with them until 1994.

He delivered the Grotius Lecture at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (April 2008) entitled: ‘For Love of Country and International Criminal Law.’ Prince Zeid is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation. He is also a member of the World Bank's Advisory Council for the World Development Report 2011.

Marriage and children

Prince Zeid was married on the 5 July 2000 at Amman to Sarah Butler, henceforth called Sarah Zeid, who was born in Houston, Harris County, Texas, on 1 August 1972. She was educated in Prior's Field, Godalming, Surrey, Hurtwood House near Dorking, Surrey, and graduated from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Harris County, Texas and the SOAS in London (MSc). She then employed with the United Nations Organization in New York City, where she served in the development program, the peace-keeping department and UNICEF. She became the Honorary Director of Petra National Foundation in the United States, etc. She is the daughter of Dr. Godfrey Butler, a British Geologist (Phd) and a Consultant to international oil companies, and wife. Together they have two children:

• HH Prince Ra'ad - born 17 May 2001
• HH Princess Hala - born 13 March 2003

External links

• The Washington Diplomat Newspaper - Ambassador profile
• Royalark

Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad House of Hāshim Born: 26 January 1964
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Prince Ra'ad I bin Zeid (actual head of the dynasty)	Line of succession to the Iraqi throne	Succeeded by Prince Ra'ad II bin Zeid