1999: CIA Appoints New Station Chief in Amman

The CIA appoints Rob Richer as chief of its station in Amman, Jordan. Richer develops what Harper’s journalist Ken Silverstein will call an “extraordinarily close relationship” with Jordan’s King Abdullah. According to Silverstein, the king always remains on good terms with the CIA, which is his principal point of contact with the US in preference to the US ambassador. [Harper's, 9/12/2006]