New heads of mission
Nicolas Lloreda-Ricaurte
Ambassador of Colombia
Mr. Lloreda comes to diplomacy from the field of law. Between 2001 and 2010, he was senior counsel on international business transactions, trade and investment policy and international dispute resolution at Crowell & Moring.
For him, diplomacy started when he was appointed to serve as deputy chief-of-mission in Washington.
Prior to law, he served as director general of the Andean Community (1997-2000), the Free Trade area comprising Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In that capacity, he supervised the legal department, ensured compliance by member states and prosecuted and defended cases before the Andean Court of Justice. He also has experience in trade — he spent four years with the Colombian trade bureau in Washington.
Nirmal Verma
High Commissioner for India
Admiral Verma (Ret’d) joined the Indian navy in 1970 and became the 20th chief of the naval staff in 2009. He retired from service after commanding three ships, including an aircraft carrier.
Over his career, he served on vessels in the former Soviet Union and studied at the Royal Naval Staff College in Greenwich (United Kingdom) and in Rhode Island. He completed post-graduate defence studies at a university in Chennai, India.
He is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, awarded to him by the government of India for his meritorious service.
Admiral Verma is married to Madhulika and they have two sons.
Riadh Essid
Ambassador of Tunisia
Mr. Essid began his career as a French teacher in 1984 but joined the foreign ministry’s Asia desk within a year. He attended a nine-month training course in diplomacy in Madrid before being posted to Jakarta as first secretary. On his return, he took over the directorate general for Asia and the Americas before being posted as deputy-head-of-mission in South Africa. He returned as deputy director of the Africa desk before being appointed head-of-mission in Cameroon.
He served as assistant to the secretary of state for the Maghreb, Arab and African countries before being appointed diplomatic counsellor to acting president Fouad Mebazaa in 2011.
Mr. Essid has a master’s degree in translation. He is married and has two children.
Tuncay Babali
Ambassador of Turkey
Dr. Babali joined the foreign ministry in 1995 and, one year later, paused for military service for eight months. He returned to the ministry as an attaché and soon after took a posting as third secretary in Bulgaria. Over the following 15 years, he has served as vice-consul in Houston, counsellor in London, counsellor in Washington, as a fellow at Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University and in various postings at headquarters, including head of human resources, minister and deputy director general for treaties.
Dr. Babali, who has a PhD in political science from the University of Houston, speaks English, Bulgarian and Russian. He has authored numerous academic papers and a book about Caspian energy diplomacy. He is married and has three children.
Vadym Prystaiko
Ambassador of Ukraine
For Mr. Prystaiko, his posting to Canada is déjà vu. He was here from 2003 to 2006 as chargé d’affaires.
Mr. Prystaiko began his career in the private sector as co-founder of the IT company Electronni Visti. He joined the foreign ministry in 1994 as deputy head of trade and economic relations. Three years later, he became deputy head of the Asia Pacific desk and then consul general in Sydney, Australia.
He returned to the ministry as the president’s foreign policy consultant before his first posting to Canada. On his return, he was deputy director of the NATO section before becoming minister-counsellor in Washington.
Mr. Prystaiko has a master’s degree in foreign trade. He is married and has two sons.
Non-heads of mission
Afghanistan
Najibullah Safi
Second Secretary
Angola
Domingas Pedro José de C. Teixeira
Attaché
Australia
Geraldine Anne Taylor
Second Secretary
Australia
Toy Johnson
Second Secretary
Bangladesh
Muhammed Muksud Khan
First secretary
Bulgaria
Desislava Petrova Dragneva
Second secretary
Cameroon
Elie Banbara
Defence attaché
China
Xinxin Kong
Second secretary
Boyong Wang
First secretary
Cuba
Adrian Betancourt Maden
Attaché
Egypt
Maher A. Mohamed Elkholy
Attaché
European Union
Manfred Edgar G. Auster
Minister-counsellor
France
Christelle Diane T. Sarnelli
First secretary
Germany
Pietro Ambrogio Merlo
Counsellor
Ghana
Joseph Kennedy T. Odoom
First Secretary
Haiti
Maria Alexandra Georges
Second Secretary
Wedlyne Pierre
Second Secretary
India
Mahesh Kumar
Attaché
Iraq
Shireen Taher Shhbaz Al-Haideri
Attaché
Japan
Yosuke Yamamoto
Attaché
Kenya
Anne Nyambura Mbugua
First counsellor
Korea, Republic
Changseob Han
Minister-counsellor
Kuwait
Fahad Abdulrahman H. Alnaser
Attaché
Libya
Khalifa Alghuwel
First secretary
Hakim Sherif
Attaché
Nouria Bensaleh
Attaché
Mexico
Jose Manuel Guido Romero
Naval attaché
Mongolia
Zorigtbaatar Tserenchimed
First secretary
Morocco
Ahmed Alaoui-Benhachem
Attache
Amina Rabhi
Minister
Myanmar
Than Htwe
Attaché
TI, Cho
Attaché
Portugal
Joao Paulo Marques Sabido Costa
Minister-counsellor
Russia
Oleg Zhiganov
First secretary
Ivan Valov
Attaché
Saudi Arabia
Samia Muhsen H. Al Jabri
Attaché
Falah Abdullah M. Alqahtani
Attaché
Abdullah Khalid Abdullah Bin Khamis
Attaché
Abdulaziz Saud A. Almasoud
Attaché
Emad Abdullah A Alhoushan.
Attaché
Mansour Mohammed M. Bin Khithaila
Attaché
Sudan
Osman Abufatima Adam Mohammed
Deputy head-of-mission
Sweden
Annika Maria White
First secretary
Ukraine
Oleksandr Bunisevych
First secretary
United States of America
Paul Douglas Yeskoo
First secretary
Donna Marie Garcia
Assistant attaché
Scott Richard Reynolds
Minister-counsellor
