New US Ambassador to Sri Lanka nominated

Career diplomat Ambassador Michele J. Sison is slated to be the replacement for the current United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Patricia Butenis, State Department sources said. Reportedly, the US State Department has informed Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry and the Ministry is in the process of approving the Ambassador-designate.

However, Sison is expected to undergo the US Senate confirmation hearing prior to her appointment as the envoy. According to the State Department, Ambassador Sison was confirmed by the US Senate in August 2008 as the US Ambassador to Lebanon. She currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Bagdad.

Sison is a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor. President Barack Obama nominated current Ambassador Butenis as the US envoy to Sri Lanka and Maldives in May 2009 and she was confirmed by the Senate in August 2009. Butenis is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Career Minister and has also served as DCM in at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2007-2009. Ambassador Sison is of Philippines and American origin with family roots in Lingayen, Pangasinan, in the Philippines. (Lankapage)