Bush to name US ambassador to Afghanistan as Iraq envoy: report

WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush was poised to nominate the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to replace John Negroponte as ambassador to Iraq, US media reported Friday.
The White House was to announce the nomination on Friday, according to The New York Times.
Negroponte was recently named the first-ever US director for national intelligence after less than a year in his Baghdad post.
A US citizen born in Afghanistan, Khalilzad has served in Kabul since 2003, supervising US reconstruction efforts in the country, as well as elections, after the fall of the Taliban regime.
He previously served as the United States' special envoy in the country and, earlier, worked for the California-based oil firm Unocal.

03/11/2005 14:41 GMT