Robert Ames (CIA official)
| Robert Ames | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Robert Clayton Ames March 6, 1934 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | April 18, 1983 (aged 49) Beirut, Lebanon |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Bob Ames |
| Occupation | Near East Director, Central Intelligence Agency |
Robert Clayton "Bob" Ames, (March 6, 1934 — April 18, 1983) was an American spy, the Central Intelligence Agency's Near East Director. He was killed in the 1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut. He is not related to espionage felon Aldrich Ames.
Raised in Philadelphia he was a 1956 graduate of La Salle University. While at La Salle, he was a member of the La Salle basketball team which won the NCAA championship in 1954 and was runner-up in 1955.
In 1956, he joined the US Army from which he switched to the CIA, specializing in the Middle East. He rose to become the CIA's chief analyst for the area. Working for the CIA's Middle East Directorate of Operations, Ames is reputed to have made the first high-level penetration of the PLO. It is claimed one of two senior contacts he made was Hassan Salameh.
He was killed on April 18, 1983 when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the US Embassy in Beirut. A total of 63 people were killed in the explosion including Ames, the CIA Lebanon station chief and his deputy, as well as six other CIA officers and eight other Americans.
US President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy Reagan attended the ceremony marking arrival of the victim's coffins at Andrews Air Force Base. A memorial service for them, held at Washington National Cathedral was attended by three thousand people. Ames is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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