ABU DHABI // The United States Ambassador to the UAE, Richard Olson, will leave early next month for an assignment at the American embassy in Afghanistan.
In Kabul, he will serve as the co-ordinating director for development and economics.
"It has been an extraordinary experience to serve as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates during a period that has seen the US-UAE bilateral relationships grow and deepen in many ways," Mr Olson said.
About 800 American companies do business and 40,000 Americans live in the Emirates, he said in a speech last August.
The UAE is the US's 19th-largest trade partner.
Mr Olson, a career diplomat, had undertaken previous assignments in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai, as consul general. He became the ambassador in October 2008.
Before that he served in Mexico, Uganda, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Iraq, according to the US state department.
The US deputy chief of mission, Douglas Greene, will take up the post of chargé d'affaires on May 2, the US Embassy said.
