US to switch role of Indyk and Walker

US State Department deputy spokesman James Foley said yesterday that US Undersecretary of State for Near East Affairs Martin Indyk and the US ambassador to Israel, Edward Walker, may switch places.

"Secretary Albright has recommended to the President, and it's his intention to ask Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk to return to Israel as the United States Ambassador to Israel," Foley said, adding that this would be Indyk's second term as ambassador to Israel.

"It is also President Clinton's intention to nominate the current US Ambassador to Israel, Ambassador Edward Walker, as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs," he added.

He said Walker, who has also served as the US ambassador to Egypt, has spent "the bulk of his career working on Middle Eastern issues, and the Secretary and President feel he's ideally suited to be running our regional Middle Eastern affairs here in the State Department."