More than 16 months after the resignation of Dana Shell Smith, the USA is preparing to send a new envoy to Qatar.

US President Donald Trump has announced his ‘intent to nominate’ Mary Catherine Phee as the ambassador of the United States of America to Qatar, said the White House in a statement.

Mary Phee, who belongs to the state of Illinois, will be the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of US to Qatar.

Phee, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as the deputy special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the Department of State, reported Gulf Times.

Phee earlier served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organisation Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, besides being the US ambassador to Sudan, reported Qatar Tribune.

Additionally, she also served on the National Security Council as Director for Iraq and was the Senior Civilian Representative of the Coalition Provisional Authority to Maysan Province, al Amarah, Iraq.

Dana Shell Smith, the previous US ambassador to Qatar, criticised Trump’s handling of the State Department before stepping down from her post, just days after the start of the illegal siege of Qatar.

Qatar is home to America’s largest military base in the Gulf area.