News - 2007

SOS INTERNATIONAL SENIOR ADVISOR IN IRAQ RECEIVES DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY CIVILIAN PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
November 26, 2007

Today, the U.S. Department of the Army presented SOS International (SOSi) employee, Sadi M. Othman, with the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service. Private citizens of the United States, as well as private citizens and government officials of foreign countries, who perform significant "hands-on" humanitarian actions or deeds are eligible for nomination.

The award recognizes Mr. Othman for being a key player in bringing about a peaceful resolution to a recent crisis in Iraq, in which the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group based in the north along the border with Turkey, captured and held eight Turkish army soldiers captive for nearly 13 days. The award's citation certificate notes that Mr. Othman unremittingly engaged Iraqi leaders, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Kurdish, or "Peshmerga" Generals, as well as the PKK itself, in order to secure the release of the hostages. His unwavering commitment to the crisis facilitated critical communications that led these entities to a peaceful agreement. His efforts, and the resulting positive outcome of the crisis, encouraged the KRG President and Prime Minister to also enter into discussions to pursue a more permanent resolution to the PKK issue.

Mr. Othman is an SOSi employee assigned to work as a senior advisor to David H. Petraeus, Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. He has been a key contributor to U.S., Coalition and Iraqi Government efforts to stabilize Iraq since 2003. He has served as a senior advisor to General Petraeus since he took the helm of the Multi-National Forces in February of this year, previously serving as a senior advisor to U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzaid, and General Petraeus when he commanded the Combined Security Transition Command-Iraq, the organization tasked with training and equipping the Iraqi Security Forces.

Mr. Othman serves as a communications, political and cultural advisor to General Petraeus, assisting with his daily communications with Iraqi political leadership, as well as other senior political and government leaders throughout the Middle East. He frequently appears on news programs in both the United States and the Middle East and is among the most widely recognized Arab-American faces representing U.S. and Coalition Forces in Iraq.

SOS International, Ltd. (SOSi) is a privately owned defense services firm with more than 1,200 employees worldwide.  Now in its third decade of operation, SOSi provides a wide range of analytical, training, and consulting services to the U.S. government and private sector firms in the defense and aerospace industry. It specializes in counter-terrorism and counterdrug operations, international stabilization and capacity building, public affairs and strategic communications.

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