Maura Connelly, deputy assistant secretary in the State Department Near Eastern Affairs bureau, and former charge d'affaires in Damascus, is expected to replace Michele Sison as the new U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, said concerned sources in the U.S. State Department Saturday.

Connelly is the current assistant to Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, meaning that her selection takes on political importance as Feltman is an expert on Lebanese affairs.

She had recently conducted a tour of the Middle East during which she stressed the importance of Lebanese-American ties and the United States' constant support to Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.

She is expected to officially take office in August when Sison's term ends at the end of July.

Prior to her position in Damascus, she served as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in London between 2005 and 2008 and as a diplomat in Iraq in 2003.

Connelly also served as the head of the political section in the American consulate in Al Quds between 1993 and 1996 where she won an award for her diplomatic efforts in covering the Palestinian-"Israeli" conflict.

During the 1980s, she served as the head of the political section in the U.S. embassy in Algeria.