U.S. appoints new envoy to Malaysia

U.S. appoints new envoy to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The new U.S. ambassador to Malaysia arrived in the Southeast Asian capital on Thursday amid testy relations between Washington and Kuala Lumpur.

B. Lynn Pascoe, a career diplomat, succeeds Ambassador John Malott, whose three-year term ended last month, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

In November, Malott was summoned to the Foreign Ministry over comments by Vice President Al Gore which enraged the Malaysian government and triggered a national outcry against the United States.

Gore, during a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, praised the "brave people of Malaysia" for a political reform campaign calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Malott defended Gore's comments, saying he had only called for democracy and was not inciting people to violence.