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World Leaders Praise Late Ambassador Holbrooke

   VOA News 14 December 2010
   U.S.  special  envoy  for  Pakistan Richard Holbrooke visits Pakistani
   children  who  survived floods and live in a camp set up for displaced
   people in the Makli area of Sindh province (File)

Photo: AP

   U.S.  special  envoy  for  Pakistan Richard Holbrooke visits Pakistani
   children  who  survived floods and live in a camp set up for displaced
   people in the Makli area of Sindh province (File)

   The  international  community  is  praising the legacy of veteran U.S.
   diplomat  Richard  Holbrooke,  who  died Monday at the age of 69 while
   serving as the [1]Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
   Holbrooke  died  in a Washington hospital three days after he fell ill
   during  a  meeting  at  the  State  Department with Secretary of State
   Hillary  Clinton.  He  underwent  two  lengthy operations Saturday and
   Sunday  to  repair  a  tear  in his aorta, the large artery that moves
   blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
   President  Barack  Obama  issued  a  statement  saying  he  is "deeply
   saddened"  by  Holbrooke's  passing.  The president called the veteran
   diplomat  a  "true  giant  of  American  foreign  policy" who made his
   country "stronger, safer and more respected."
   Secretary  Clinton  called  Holbrooke  one  of the country's "fiercest
   champions and most dedicated public servants."
   Afghan  President  Hamid Karzai, who clashed with Holbrooke many times
   since  Mr.  Obama  took  on  his  latest portfolio, called the veteran
   diplomat's death a loss for the American people.
   A  spokesman  for  the  Chinese  Foreign Ministry in Beijing expressed
   condolences  to  Holbrooke's family, and hope for "peace and stability
   and development" for the Southeast Asia region.
   [2]
   U.S.   Army   General  David  Petraeus,  the  commander  of  U.S.  and
   international  forces  in Afghanistan, called Holbrooke "a true titan"
   in diplomacy.
   One  of  Holbrooke's  major  accomplishments was playing a key role in
   negotiating   the   Dayton   Peace  Accords  that  ended  the  war  in
   Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Those  accords, which were signed on December 14,
   1995  by  Serbian, Bosnian and Croat leaders, ended an ethnic conflict
   that claimed 100,000 lives.
   Former  President  Bill  Clinton,  who was in the White House when the
   Dayton Accords were signed, praised Holbrooke Monday for a lifetime of
   "brilliant  service  on  the front lines of war and peace, freedom and
   oppression."
   Swedish  Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who worked with Holbrooke on the
   Dayton agreement, called him a "giant" in modern diplomacy.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

References

   1. http://www.state.gov/s/special_rep_afghanistan_pakistan/index.htm
   2. http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=166

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