Departing US ambassador promises to return often

The departing U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, left Brussels yesterday, but with the firm intention of returning here as a businessman and cultivating friendships he forged during the four years of his mandate, the American Embassy announced. He wrote in La Libre Belgique that he intended to “keep coming back” with his wife, Dr. Michelle Loewinger, “whether for business, to visit friends or for pleasure”. He recently accepted to become a director at Antwerp-based shipping group Exmar, which specialises in the transportation of gas. His designated successor is Denise Bauer, a former member of the national finance committee for Barack Obama’s two presidential election campaigns. If the Senate confirms her appointment, she will become the first woman to hold this position since Anne Cox Chambers, who was US Ambassador from 1977 to 1981.