Kathmandu, Nov 17 (IANS) American President Barack Obama has named a former US ambassador to Eritrea and ex-vice counsel in India as the new ambassador to Nepal.

Scott H. DeLisi, a career diplomat, has been plucked from the career development and assignments division in the US State Department's Bureau of Human Resources, where he was serving as director, to be Washington's trouble-shooter in Kathmandu, where a three-year-old peace process has hit an all-time low.

The Minnesotan has also served as director for Southern African Affairs, vice counsel at the US Embassy in New Delhi and the chief of the political section in Sri Lanka.

He has also held an unspecified posting in Pakistan.

DeLisi replaces Nancy J. Powell, whose tenure ended in August when she returned to Washington as director-general in the Human Resources department.