Born on November 13, 1950 in Fez, Morocco, Aziz Mekouar holds a baccalaureate degree from the French Lycée Charles Lepierre in Lisbon, Portugal, and graduated from the HEC Graduate Business School in France in 1974. Mekouar served as first counselor and deputy chief of mission at the Moroccan Embassy in Rome, Italy (1977-1985), and permanent representative of Morocco to the International Bureau for Information Technology (1978-1985). Mekouar served as Moroccan ambassador to Angola from 1986 to 1993, ambassador to Portugal from 1993 to 1999, and ambassador Italy, Malta and Albania, from 1999 to 1992, when he also served as permanent representative to the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization). He was elected Chairman of the United Nations FAO Council from November 2001 to November 2005. He became ambassador of Morocco to the U.S. on June 19, 2002. Mekouar is fluent in Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Ambassador Mekouar and his wife Maria Felice have one child.