WHITE HOUSE HAS NOT NAMED NEXT U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA YET

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.03.2008 15:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The White House has not named the next
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia yet, U.S. charge d’affairs Joseph Pennington
told a news conference today.

"According to the appointment procedure, the White House forwards the
designation to the Senate, which approves or disapproves it after a
hearing held with participation of the nominee," Mr Pennington said.

Earlier, The California Courier publisher Harut Sassounian said the
Bush Administration has submitted to the Armenian government the name
of Marie L. Yovanovitch (currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz
Republic) as the next Ambassador to Armenia, according to several
Armenian and American reliable sources.

An earlier attempt to nominate Amb. Richard Hoagland to replace
Amb. Evans was blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez (Dem.-N.J.), to protest
the dismissal of Amb.

Evans and to object to Amb. Hoagland’s poor choice of words in
responding to Senators’ questions on the validity of the Armenian
Genocide.