NIH Director Joins Call For Mideast Cease-Fire

Elias A. Zerhouni was appointed to his post by the president in 2002. (Dennis Cook - AP)

The head of the National Institutes of Health has joined a nonprofit group's public campaign demanding an "immediate cease-fire" in the Middle East, a stance at odds with Bush administration policy.

Elias A. Zerhouni, a physician whom President Bush appointed director of the NIH in 2002, lent his name to a half-page ad in yesterday's Washington Post by the Arab-American Institute Foundation. The ad, which featured the names of 36 prominent Arab Americans, called upon "all those in power to stop the violence" through a cease-fire so that "reconciliation and reconstruction" efforts can begin.

"We reclaim our American values of justice and mercy and compassion, values that abhor oppression and racism," the ad reads in part. "American leadership in the political and humanitarian challenges ahead is a sacred duty."

The administration has rejected Arab and European calls for an immediate cease-fire, saying a cease-fire should come only as part of a broader agreement that can endure for years and rein in Hezbollah militants.

Although Zerhouni's name appears in the ad, his title as leader of the nation's medical research agency does not.

"He signed in his personal capacity, which is why we did not list his affiliation," said Helen Samhan, the foundation's executive director. "We respect him for taking a personal stand on this, but he made it very clear that it was not in his professional capacity."

"He put it in as a private citizen," said John T. Burklow, an NIH spokesman.

Zerhouni was born in Algeria and earned a medical degree there in 1975, according to the NIH Web site. He later trained in diagnostic radiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he became chairman of the radiology department. He also was a consultant to the Reagan White House.

Some supporters of Israel and U.S. policy in the current conflict in Lebanon said they found it unusual that a high-ranking administration official would publicly oppose the president on foreign policy, even if his title was not attached.

"It's clear that in this particular case it doesn't represent the administration's position, but I would hope that anybody who is in that position of authority would have the common sense and discretion not to do things of this sort," said Neil B. Goldstein, executive director of the American Jewish Congress.

Kenneth Bandler, a spokesman for the American Jewish Committee, said that because Zerhouni did not use his title, the group does not object. "It's not an issue for us," he said.

William L. Bransford, general counsel for the Senior Executives Association, an organization of high-ranking federal civil service officials, said Zerhouni had not crossed any ethical or legal lines -- only political ones.

"A political appointee serves at the pleasure of the president, and I don't know how the president would react to that," Bransford said. "You don't necessarily have any First Amendment rights in that type of position. As somebody who comes out publicly with a position that's directly opposite the administration, you would hope that they perhaps cleared that before they did it. Maybe they would allow some expression of personal opinion . . . because as the director of NIH, he doesn't have anything to do with the conflict."

The White House referred questions to the National Security Council. NSC spokesman Frederick Jones said he had no immediate comment late yesterday.