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US Envoy to Afghanistan, Pakistan in Critical Condition

   VOA News 11 December 2010
   Richard  Holbrooke,  US  special  envoy  for  Afghanistan and Pakistan
   answers  journalists'  questions  at  a  press  conference  at Foreign
   Ministry in Rome, Italy, 18 Oct 2010

Photo: AP

   Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan (file
   photo)

   Richard  Holbrooke,  the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in
   critical condition after undergoing surgery at a Washington hospital.
   Doctors  operated  on  Holbrooke Saturday to fix a tear in his aorta.Â
   U.S.  State  Department  spokesman  P.J.  Crowley says the 69-year-old
   diplomat has been joined by his family.
   The  veteran  diplomat  previously  served  as  U.S. ambassador to the
   United  Nations  and  was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton peace
   accords that ended the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
   Holbrooke  was  hospitalized Friday after falling ill while working at
   the State Department in Washington.
   U.S.  President  Barack  Obama named Holbrooke as his special envoy to
   Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009.
   Holbrooke  visited  Islamabad  last month, where he met with Pakistani
   officials about flood reconstruction and other economic issues.

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