US ambassador to Egypt to become Deputy Secretary of State
World Bulletin/News Desk
US ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson will leave her post in Cairo to become a Deputy Secretary of State, a high-level diplomat in the US embassy in Cairo told Anadolu Agency.
“I can confirm that Patterson will leave her post,” said the diplomat, who declined to be named.
Patterson is likely to be replaced by either the US ambassador in the United Arab Emirates or Jordan, a well-placed Egyptian official told AA.
But he added that the new US ambassador will be named after the approval of the Egyptian government.
The official said that the US administration was trying to choose a diplomat who is accepted by all parties and who can deal with the current circumstances.
A source in the US embassy also cited a similar reason for not unveiling the name of the candidate for the post.
Western reports had earlier cited former US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford as a possible replacement to Patterson.
Patterson had invited the ire of political powers in Egypt.
Essam al-Erian, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, had called for Patterson to leave Egypt, accusing Washington of championing the “plot” to oust elected President Mohamed Morsi.
The Tamarod movement, which championed the protests that led to Morsi’s ouster last month, had also said that the US ambassador was a “persona non grata”, accusing the US of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt has been in the throes of a political crisis since the powerful army ousted Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president, on July 3 after mass demonstrations against his regime.
Ever since his ouster, thousands of his supporters have been staging daily protests and sit-ins to defend his “democratic legitimacy” and demand his reinstatement.
