Combating Terrorism

Born at Asser in the southern region of Saudi Arabia, Ali Saeed Awadh Asseri graduated from the Police Academy, Riyadh in 1976. After passing his advanced course in government administration from the Royal Institute of Public Administration, London, he undertook various training courses in the USA and UK including from Hendon Police College, London as well as under the Manchester Police and Scotland Yard, in the fields of combating terrorism, hijacking, hostage negotiations, physical security, ambassadorial security, and high crisis management. He has a Master's in International Relations. Commissioned as Lieutenant in the Interior Security Forces in 1976, Ali Asseri rose to the rank of Brigadier. Assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982, he served as Director General of the Diplomatic Security Department and headed senior diplomatic delegations to the Central Asian countries and to Bosnia, Albania, and Hungary to open new embassies. He was also a member of the faculty at the Diplomatic Studies Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh and was part of the investigation team looking into the assassination of Saudi diplomats by terrorists in various parts of the world. Ali Asseri was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan in 2001 where he served till 2009. He also served as the Saudi Ambassador in Lebanon from 2009 to 2016. His previous publications include a book titled Post September 11: The Efforts to Combat the Negative Fallout. Ali Asseri's interests include learning about various cultures and ideologies and interacting closely with people from divergent backgrounds.