Manama:  Bahrain has appointed the first Jewish ambassador from the Arab world to the United States after the announcement of a royal decree transferring Huda Ezra Nonoo to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Huda, a member of the Shura Council, the Upper House, is now Bahrain's head of diplomatic mission in Washington, replacing Nasser Al Beloushi.

Diplomats who spoke to Gulf News said that Al Beloushi is tipped for a post in France.

"It is a great honour to have been appointed as the first female ambassador to the United States of America and I am looking forward to meeting this new challenge," Nonoo told the Associated Press.

Huda, a businesswoman with interests in the computer industry, was the first Jewish woman to the Shura Council.

With inputs from agencies