Natsios appointed as US president special envoy to Sudan

Sept 19, 2006 (NEW YORK) — The US President George W. Bush has announced today at the UN General Assembly the appointment of Andrew S. Natsios as the President’s Special Envoy for Sudan.

According to the State Department, Natsios will advise the President and Secretary of State and work closely with Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer to end the conflict in Darfur and to bring peace and stability to all of Sudan.

Natsios’s mandate will include facilitating the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Darfur Peace Agreement, reviewing the state of US-Sudan relations, and making recommendations for advancing our policy.

Mr. Natsios, a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, has extensive experience in Sudan.

He was the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He has been an outspoken defender of human rights and of those in need in all parts of Sudan.

Sudanese Presidential Advisor Majzoub al-Khalifa said Natsios nomination would not change Sudanese government opposition to the deployment of UN forces into Darfur. However, he indicated that Sudan would continue to dialogue with the US Administration for peace and stability in Darfur.

(ST)