President Barack Obama on Friday named Anne Patterson, Washington's former envoy to Pakistan, as the next US ambassador to Egypt, a key ally that Washington hopes will become a model for Arab democracy, the White House said.
Pending Senate confirmation, Patterson will replace Margaret Scobey, who has served in the post for just over three years and was present when a pro-democracy revolution toppled US ally Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Patterson previously served from July 2007 to October 2010 as the US ambassador to Islamabad, which has long had a tense relationship with Washington as a key ally in the decade-long war on terrorism. Obama signalled he wanted a tested career diplomat for Cairo where Patterson will deal with the new ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is steering a more independent diplomatic course from Mubarak.
After helping to ease Mubarak out of power in February, the United States is trying to keep Egypt as a major ally and ensure it preserves its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the cornerstone of US diplomacy in the region.