US envoy to Morocco to head up post-war public relations effort in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 14, 2003
US ambassador to Morocco Margaret Tutwiler has been tapped to run public relations efforts in post-war Iraq under the Pentagon-led team headed by retired general Jay Garner, State Department officials said Monday.

Tutwiler, who served as spokeswoman for former secretary of state James Baker during the 1991 Gulf War, is expected to assume her new post within the week, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"She'll be leading the public diplomacy effort and she should be there shortly," one official said.

Tutwiler is still President George W. Bush's choice to replace Charlotte Beers as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, the officials said.

Beers, who was hired in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks to improve the United States' image particularly in the Muslim world, resigned last month for health reasons.

SPACE.WIRE