WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has decided to nominate Donald Blome, currently ambassador to Tunisia, as his top diplomat in Pakistan as Washington works to manage the situation in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American troops.
Biden will announce plans to nominate Blome to the job in Pakistan later this week, the White House said.
Blome is a career Foreign Service diplomat with long experience in the region who once worked in the Kabul embassy, shuttered earlier this year during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to his profile, Blome possesses over 20 years of experience working in the Middle East with postings in Jerusalem, Kabul and Cairo.
The last US ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, left Islamabad in August 2018, shortly after the formation of the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government. After his exit, Paul W. Jones took charge of the American mission in Islamabad as charge d’affaires.
He left Pakistan in August 2020, with incumbent Angela Aggeler serving as charge d’affaires in Islamabad since then.
Pakistan is playing a major role in diplomacy with its Taliban-ruled neighbour.
International agencies have warned that Afghanistan is on the verge of humanitarian collapse without access to aid or foreign reserves, which remain frozen in the United States.
Pakistan’s relationship with neighbouring China has also been of interest to the Biden administration, which regards Beijing as its chief international rival.
Tunisia, where Blome has worked as ambassador since 2019, is an important diplomatic outpost for the United States in North Africa, representing interests beyond the country’s borders, including in neighbouring Libya.
The ambassadorial position requires Senate confirmation.
