No announcement yet on new US envoy to RP

Washington has no official announcement yet on its new ambassador to the Philippines after the nomination of US ambassador to South Africa Cameron Hume did not push through.

Karen Kelley, spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Manila, said Washington has yet to announce a nominee to succeed American envoy to Manila Francis Ricciardone, who concluded his tour of duty in the Philippines last month.

"We do not have an official White House announcement on the Bush administration’s nominee for Manila yet," Kelley said.

US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Mussomeli, who was appointed US envoy to Cambodia, left yesterday for Washington for his Senate confirmation hearing. He is scheduled to return to Manila next week.

Kelley said embassy political officer Scott Bellard is the acting chargé d’affaires while Mussomeli is in the US.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo earlier said Ricciardone told him he would be replaced by Hume at the US Embassy in Manila.

Mussomeli is running the embassy as its chargé d’affaires until Ricciardone’s replacement arrives.

He became controversial for saying that Mindanao is likely to find itself "in an Afghanistan situation" if Manila and Washington lose their focus on the war against terror. The envoy was reprimanded for his comments by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Ricciardone, who is expected to go next to Cairo, Egypt, ended his assignment to the Philippines and returned to Washington in the middle of this month after a three-year tenure. But he has not yet been nominated by the White House to the US Senate for confirmation.

Manila had formally agreed several weeks ago to the appointment of Hume as the new ambassador here. But his nomination before the US Senate did not push through. No new name has been mentioned.

Hume, a conflict resolution expert, has an extensive background in the US mission in the United Nations, where he served as minister-counselor for political affairs for three years, beginning in 1994. He was also tapped as adviser and then senior adviser to the Middle East in 1990.

Although he is not familiar with Asia, the diplomat has links with the US Institute of Peace, which plays a supporting role in the peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.