Azernews.Az

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A US Senate panel has postponed a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination of senior State Department official Matthew Bryza as the next US ambassador to Azerbaijan.

The Committee chairman, Senator John Kerry said the vote on the White House nomination will be held in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations following the August break in US Congress, based on the proposal of Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who advocates for the interests of the US Armenian community.

Senate members earlier asked Bryza questions about his position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh. Sen. Boxer addressed tough questions to him during the Foreign Relations Committee sitting in late July that aimed to support the concerns of the Armenians living in the United States.

Azerbaijan and U.S.-based Azerbaijani groups have welcomed the White House nomination, while Armenian diaspora and a number of Armenian officials responded angrily as they accuse Bryza of bias on the Karabakh issue. US lawmakers opposing Bryza’s approval as envoy to Baku claimed he was not fit for the job.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who called for Bryza’s prompt confirmation as ambassador during the previous hearing, affirmed his support in an interview with reporters, saying he was an outstanding diplomat.

The ambassador’s post has been vacant since July 2009, when former Ambassador Anne Derse’s tenure expired. In May President Obama nominated Bryza, who was one of the most visible US officials in the Caucasus region during the administration of former President George Bush, serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. He was also the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which seeks to broker a settlement to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

At the July debate, Bryza dismissed the criticism over his alleged pro-Baku bias and sought to assure the senators that he would pursue US policies in the vital Caucasus region objectively.