President Joe Biden has picked career diplomat Donald Blome to be the new US ambassador to Pakistan, said the White House on Wednesday.
Donald Armin Blome, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service belonging to the class of minister-counselor, is currently the US ambassador to Tunisia.
The move by Washington comes at a time when it has to deal with a volatile Afghanistan, brimming with unrest after the US forces withdrew from the country on August 31 and the Taliban took over the country in mid-July.
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.
Prior to that, Ambassador Blome was chargé d’affaires at the Libya External Office in Tunisia, consul general at the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the US Department of State.
He has also served as political counselor at the US Embassy in Kabul and minister-counselor for economic and political affairs at the US Embassy in Cairo. Earlier in his career, Ambassador Blome served as the civilian co-director at the Multinational Force Strategic Engagement Cell, Baghdad, political counselor at the US Embassy Kuwait, and as Israel desk officer, deputy director and acting director at the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs.
The ambassadorial position requires Senate confirmation.
