ISLAMABAD, July 11: The Obama administration is close to nominating senior diplomat Richard Olson as the next US ambassador to Pakistan.

Washington had formally requested Pakistan to approve Mr Olson’s nomination as ambassador, a Western source disclosed on Wednesday.

The Foreign Office is said to be processing the request. “The process may take some time,” an official said.

White House will officially announce Mr Olson’s nomination after receiving an approval from Islamabad. After completion of this formality, Mr Olson will be required to seek confirmation of his appointment from the US Senate.

Mr Olson, who had earlier been widely tipped for the Islamabad job, is a career foreign service diplomat and is currently posted as coordinating director for development and economic affairs at the US Embassy in Kabul.

He will replace Cameron Munter who announced in May that he was prematurely stepping down from the ambassadorship.

Mr Olson’s previous overseas assignments took him to the UAE, Mexico, Uganda, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Iraq. He has also worked as deputy chief of mission at the United States Mission to Nato.

His Washington assignments include those at the State Department’s Operations Centre, Nato Desk, Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs and Office of Iraqi Affairs.

Mr Olson is considered to be a good choice for Islamabad, always thought to be a difficult station, because of his experience of working in conflict-hit countries.

However, analysts wonder if Mr Olson would be enjoying full powers in dealing with sensitive issues in the relationship — something that would determine if he would prove to be a successful envoy.

It is believed that Mr Munter decided to quit after he was overruled on critical issues, including drone attacks and apology for the death of 24 Pakistani troops in the Salala incident.

The outgoing US envoy made a farewell call on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Mr Munter said the bilateral relationship “was too vital to be left at the mercy of irritants”.