Clinton appoints a Consul General for Bermuda, Washington sources said this week.

A brief polling of Bermuda contacts in the US capital indicated the Bermuda posting was well down the line of diplomatic appointments the President has yet to make.

When one Washington-based Bermuda supporter asked a White House staffer about Bermuda, he was told "We haven't even done Germany or Italy yet.'' The estimates were collected on an off-the-record basis during the Premier's two-day visit to Washington this week.

A review of the US diplomatic scene shows Bermuda is not alone in not having its Presidential appointee.

Five months into the Administration, there are no ambassadors or even nominees for 36 of the 164 embassies around the world -- largely because Mr. Clinton has yet to make his choices.

Key posts remaining vacant include Israel, India, Saudi Arabia, Israel Korea and Somalia.

The New York Times recently reported on the situation, dubbing it the "empty embassy syndrome''.

In a newspaper interview, Mr. Bruce Lindsey, the White House director of personnel, defended the Administration's progress on the diplomatic appointments saying they were being taken care of at an "appropriate pace.'' The Senate has so far confirmed 12 ambassadors since Mr. Clinton took office compared to nine at a comparable time in 1989 and eight in 1980.

Mr. Lindsey said that US missions abroad continued to be well run without their top diplomatic appointees.

"Each ... has career people there fully capable of performing all necessary functions,'' he said.

In Bermuda, the US government is represented by consul Mr. Peter Mayer, a long-time Foreign Service officer.