Egypt is awaiting the official announcement of the name of the new US ambassador to Cairo, more than a year after the former diplomat’s mission ended.
The past three years have witnessed tense relations between Cairo and Washington. However US President Donald Trump signaled warmer ties with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after unfreezing previously withheld $195 million in military aid.
Last week, Reuters said David Satterfield, a veteran US diplomat with deep experience in the Middle East, is the leading candidate to be nominated as US ambassador to Egypt.
Since June 2017, the US Embassy in Cairo is run by Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires Thomas Goldberger.
Former Egyptian Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Mona Omar told Asharq Al-Awsat that placing the name of Satterfield as a candidate for the post of US ambassador to Egypt reveals a US desire to push US-Egyptian relations forward.
“If the US speeds up in choosing the new ambassador to Cairo and Congress swiftly approves the nomination, then this would definitely signal a thaw in relations between the countries,” she said.
Satterfield has previously served as the deputy US chief of mission in Iraq, ambassador to Lebanon, director for Near Eastern affairs on the National Security Council as well as in Syria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
