March 17, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — US President Barack Obama is prepared to name retired Air Force General Scott Gration as his special envoy to Sudan, where aid programmes benefiting 4.7 million people in Darfur were forcibly ended in recent weeks.
- Retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration (left) stands behind US President Barak Obama during the presidential election campaign, March 2008 (AP)
The decision, which is yet to be formally announced, was reported by the Associated Press, The New York Times and Reuters, who cited administration officials not authorized to speak about the move. The new appointee will be tasked with leading the administration’s policy toward Sudan, succeeding a series of special envoys appointed by President George W. Bush.
Gration, who earlier was reportedly considered to head the US space programme known as NASA, had accompanied Obama on a 15-day tour of Africa in August 2006 and campaigned extensively on his behalf.
The general was raised in the Congo and speaks fluent Swahili. He served in the US Air Force from 1974 to 2006, where his last assignment was as director of strategy, policy and assessments for the US European Command based in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.
As a fighter pilot, he flew 274 combat missions over Iraq during the first Persian Gulf War from 1990 to 1991. He is a highly decorated commander and among other awards he won the Purple Heart, an award given to those wounded in combat, and the Legion of Merit, an exceptional military honour, according to the website of the US Air Force.
In a speech to the Democratic National Convention in August last year, Gration described his trip to Africa with then-Senator Obama, saying that Obama had “listened to the stories of refugees from Darfur” and describing the current president as “a leader committed to end that genocide.”
The top US diplomat in Sudan is designated as chargé d’affaires, since the United States has not had any ambassador in the country since 1996 when President Bill Clinton withdrew the last ambassador before later launching cruise missile strikes in Khartoum.
Bush’s envoys were former Senator John Danforth, former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios and finally Ambassador Richard Williamson.
(ST)
Are Arabs evil simply because they are Arabs?
Tuesday 9 February 2010
By Zechariah Manyok Biar February 8, 2010 — The struggle for freedom is a complicated thing. Oppressed people who struggle for freedom can sometimes turn oppressors if they are not careful in the (...)
When did the SPLM turn separatist?
Monday 8 February 2010
By Charles B. Kisanga February 7, 2010 — In their desperate attempt to mislead Southern opinion, Salva Kiir and the clique around him are going around claiming that they are the champions of the (...)
Maintain Arman candidacy for Sudanese presidency
Sunday 7 February 2010
By Koang Tut Jing February 6, 2010 — The National Congress Party’s latest political maneuvering must not blindfolds the SPLM from looking outside the box. The endorsement of Kiir by the NCP (...)