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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release February 2, 2000

                 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOHN W. LIMBERT 
                    AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MAURITANIA

     The President announced today his intent to nominate John W.

Limbert to be U.S. Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Mr. John W. Limbert, of Vermont, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, entered the Foreign Service in l973. His overseas experience includes tours in Guinea, Algeria, Tunisia, Djibouti, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. From l98l-l984, he taught political science at the U.S. Naval Academy; in l99l-l992 he was a senior fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs; and l997-l998 a member of the State Department's fortieth Senior Seminar. Mr. Limbert has also been Director of Orientation at the Foreign Service Institute, Consul General in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), and Deputy Chief of Mission in Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti, and in Conakry, Guinea. He is currently Deputy Coordinator of the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism. Mr. Limbert has written numerous articles on Middle Eastern history, literature, and politics, and is the author of Iran: At War with History (Westview Press, l987).

Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Limbert taught in Iran, both as a Peace Corps Volunteer and as an instructor of English and history at the University of Shiraz. Mr. Limbert earned a BA, MA and Ph.D from Harvard University -- the last in History and Middle Eastern Studies.

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