Douglas Layton

Dr. Douglas Layton is the founder of several International humanitarian organizations, an American author, businessman, and champion of human rights in the Middle East. He has lived and worked for many years in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.

He has spent much of his last 25 years working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). He has worked for the US State Department as Country Director of one of the largest healthcare projects ever undertaken in Kurdistan. He also served as Country Director of Kurdistan Development Corporation under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office.

He is a pioneer of modern day tourism in Kurdistan as co-founder of the first inwardly focused tour company in the region (www.kurdistaniraqtorus.com). He helped organize and testified at the US Senate hearings on Saddam’s genocide against the Kurds (1993).

He is considered an expert on current and past political issues in the region as well as one of the foremost experts on the historic and archeological sites of Kurdistan. He recently published the first comprehensive guide to Kurdistan (www.kurdistantourguide.com). He founded the first American/English school in Kurdistan of Iraq – Classical School of the Medes.

He was also was the initiator of the highly successful Kurdistan: The Other Iraq public relations campaign aired in 2006 on CNN, FOX, CBS, BBC and nearly every major media outlet in the USA, Britain, Australia and even Japan. He has a doctorate in theology with an emphasis on Islamic Studies and often lectures in various parts of the world including the USA, Europe, and the Middle East.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Layton