U.S. Tillerson to end position of Sudans’ special envoy: report
August 28, 2017 (WASHINGTON) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is planning to end the position of special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan disclosed CNN in a report released on its website on Monday.
According to the cable news network, the special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan ” will be subsumed under the Bureau of African Affairs”.
The CNN said Tillerson detailed his plan to eliminate or reduce special envoy positions at the State Department in a letter sent to Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
“I believe that the Department will be able to better execute its mission by integrating certain envoys and special representative offices within the regional and functional bureaus,” Tillerson wrote in his letter to Corker, adding “and eliminating those that have accomplished or outlived their original purpose,” CNN reported.
The cancellation of the Bureau of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan may not affect the engagement of the U.S. administration in the two troubled countries where Washington used to play a significant role in the ongoing efforts to end the armed conflict there.
However, it may send a wrong a wrong message to the governments in Khartoum and Juba, because it may be perceived as an expression of Washington’s disengagement from the peace processes in the region.
The move includes several other special envoys position in Africa, Syria, North Korean human rights issues and others. However, Tillerson will keep many of the 70 special envoys at the State Department. Even, he will expand three offices dealing with religious freedom, HIV/AIDS and Holocaust issues.
Last February, 12 Congressmen including senators and representatives have called on President Donald Trump to appoint a special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan to back the regional efforts for peace in the two countries.
“United States leadership is critical to helping bring about a lasting peace in Sudan and South Sudan. Your swift action on this matter will make a difference in millions of lives,” they said.
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