NOMINEE APPROVED AS ENVOY TO MEXICO

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate confirmed career diplomat Jeffrey Davidow as
ambassador to Mexico on Friday, filling a key diplomatic post that has been
vacant for a year.

The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote and without debate.

The Mexico City post has been vacant since the June 1997 departure of former
Rep. James Jones, D-Okla. Opposition by Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., blocked the confirmation of Clinton's first
choice to replace Jones, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican.

Davidow, a native of Boston, currently directs the State Department's Latin
America bureau. He is a former ambassador to Venezuela and Zambia and also
held diplomatic posts in Guatemala, Chile, South Africa and Zimbabwe. He has
spent 29 years in the Foreign Service.

Davidow was one of a batch of ambassadorial nominations confirmed Friday by
the Senate.

Also confirmed were: Nancy Halliday Ely-Raphel as ambassador to Slovenia,
William David Clarke as ambassador to Eritrea, George Williford Boyce Haley
as ambassador to Gambia, Katherine Hubay Peterson as ambassador to Lesotho,
John O'Leary as ambassador to Chile, Michael Craig Lemmon as ambassador to
Armenia and Rudolf Vilemk Perina as ambassador to Moldova.

Also, Shirley Elizabeth Barnes as ambassador to Madagascar, Charles Richard
Stith as ambassador to Tanzania, Eric S. Edelman as ambassador to Finland,
Paul L. Cejas as ambassador to Belgium, Cynthia Perrin Schneider as
ambassador to the Netherlands and Kenneth Spencer Yalowitz as ambassador to
Georgia.

Meanwhile, Davidow offered written responses to questions asked by Helms as
part of the confirmation process. Several of the questions related to the
anti-money-laundering operation carried out by U.S. undercover agents in
Mexico that led to the arrests of a number of Mexican bankers in the United
States and the recovery of millions of dollars in drug money.

The probe, code-named ``Operation Casablanca,'' infuriated Mexican officials
on grounds that the agents carried out their duties in Mexico without the
authorization of the Mexican government.

There have been calls in Mexico for the extradition of the U.S. agents to
Mexico, but Davidow, in response to a question from Helms, said he had seen
nothing in the case that would lead him to recommend the extradition of any
U.S. agent who ``acted in good faith to carry out his official duties.''

Asked whether the United States owed Mexico an apology for the operation,
Davidow did not answer directly.

``I believe that the U.S. has the right and obligation to carry out
aggressive investigations of drug traffickers and the money launderers that
assist them,'' Davidow said.

``In the case of Operation Casablanca, I believe we could have communicated
and coordinated better with the government of Mexico, and we have expressed
this view publicly.''

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett