Sri Lanka gets new US envoy

COLOMBO - US ambassador Patricia Butenis, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, presented her credentials to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday.

Butenis was nominated by President Barack Obama as the US envoy to Sri Lanka and the Maldives May 27. She was confirmed by the Senate Aug 4 and sworn in Aug 19.

Prior to this assignment Butenis served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Baghdad 2007-09. In 2006-07 she was ambassador to Bangladesh and in 2004-06 the Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad.

She was Vice Consul in Karachi in 1980-82 and Consul in New Delhi in 1985-88.