US appoints special representative for Sudan

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) – The United States appointed a veteran aid official and negotiator as special representative to Sudan on Tuesday in a move the State Department said underscored the U.S. commitment to ending violence in Darfur.

Roger Winter, the special representative of the deputy secretary of state for Sudan, has worked in the strife-torn African state for 25 years, most recently as assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Winter helped negotiate the April 2004 cease-fire agreement for Darfur, an initial step toward halting a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and left some 2 million homeless since early 2003.

The new official began work on Tuesday, a week after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Sudan and called for action to stop the violence.

Winter is expected to try to help maintain momentum in talks between the government and the two main Darfur rebel groups in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The African Union-sponsored negotiations resume on Aug. 24.