Sudan peace envoy Danforth to be US ambassador to UN
ROME, June 4 (AFP) — President George W. Bush named John Danforth, a former senator and peace envoy to Sudan, to the key post of US ambassador to the United Nations.
He will replace John Negroponte who is to become the first US ambassador to the post-June 30 Iraq, in charge of the biggest US embassy in the world.
Danforth, 67, may have to take up a key role in the continuing US battle to secure international support for its campaign in Iraq.
The United States is currently trying to get the UN Security Council to pass a new resolution that would smooth the way for the June 30 handover of power by the US-led coalition to an interim Iraqi government.
Relations between the Bush administration and the United Nations were strained by last year’s decision to launch an invasion of Iraq.
The United States and Britain, which carried out the invasion, were opposed France, Russia and China, the other three permanent members of the Security Council. All five permanent nations can veto any resolution.
But Danforth already has experience as an international troubleshooter.
Since 2001, Danforth has served as US presidential envoy for peace negotiations in Sudan. He helped shape a crucial accord between the Khartoum government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
The historic deal struck last month paves the way to ending Africa’s longest-running civil war, which has claimed at least 1.5 million lives in the African nation since 1983.
Danforth represented Missouri in the US Senate for 18 years until 1995 and was also attorney general for the state. He is currently a partner with a law firm based in St. Louis.
Danforth led a commission of inquiry into the 1993 killing of about 80 followers of the Branch Davidian sect during an assault by US police forces in the Texas town of Waco.
The UN appointment still has to be approved by the US Senate.
But Danforth is perceived as a moderate within the Republican party who is also respected by Democrats.
“The president intends to nominate John C. Danforth, of Missouri, to be representative of the United States to the United Nations with the rank of ambassador… and to be United States representative in the Security Council of the United Nations,” the White House said in a statement.
Danforth was educated at Princeton and Yale universities and is the father of five children.
Danforth’s family made a fortune in the animal feed and pet food industry, founding the world-leading Ralston Purina Company in the late 19th century.