*EPF403 03/18/2004
U.S. Working with NATO to End Violence in Kosovo
(White House Report, March 18: Kosovo, nominations) (280)

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan discussed actions taken by the U.S. government in response to the recent surge of violence in Kosovo with reporters March 18 as they accompanied President Bush on a day trip to Kentucky.

"We're working with NATO to deploy additional forces as a precaution. One U.S. [Army] company is already en route as part of a 350 person NATO force today. We continue to call on all groups to end the violence and refrain from violence," McClellan said.

According to news reports, violence erupted in Kosovo March 17 when ethnic Albanians clashed with Serbs over the suspected drownings of two Albanian children. At least 31 people have died and a hundred more have been wounded in the ongoing violence.

BUSH TO NOMINATE TWO AMBASSADORS

President Bush intends to nominate R. Niels Marquardt of California to be ambassador to Cameroon and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Marquardt currently serves as special coordinator for the Diplomatic Readiness Institute at the State Department. Earlier in his career, he served as economic officer at the American embassy in Bonn and as commercial officer at the American embassy in Paris. Marquardt earned his bachelor's degree from Lewis and Clark College, his first master's degree from the American Graduate School of International Management, and his second master's degree from the National War College.

The president intends to nominate Lauren Moriarty of Hawaii to have the rank of ambassador during tenure of service as United States senior official to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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