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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release July 21, 1998

              PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOHN MELVIN YATES AS
          U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE REPUBLIC OF EQUATORIAL GUINEA

The President today announced his intent to nominate John Melvin Yates to be U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial New Guinea.

Ambassador John Melvin Yates, of Spokane, Washington, is a career Member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Benin and also has been nominated to be U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon. As Ambassador to both the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, he will reside in Cameroon. Ambassador Yates is among the Department of State's most experienced African specialists, having spent the bulk of his Foreign Service career on the African continent or dealing with it from Washington. He has served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Lagos, Nigeria, in Libreville, Gabon, and in Kinshasa, in the former Zaire (and later as Charge d'Affaires, in Kinshasa). He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Cape Verde, as well as at the U.S. Embassies in Algiers, Algeria; Blantyre, Malawi; Bamako, Mali; New Delhi, India; and Ankara, Turkey. Departmental assignments have included the Bureau of African Affairs and the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Scientific Affairs.

Ambassador Yates earned a B.A. degree in International Relations from Stanford University in 1961, followed by an M.A. in International Affairs in 1962, an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy in 1963, and a Ph.D. in 1972, all from the Fletcher School of Law Diplomacy. He speaks French and Portuguese.

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