Washington, D.C.—(ENEWSPF)—December 13, 2010. Senior State Department officials have reported that Ambassador Richard Holbrooke has died this evening.
Ambassador Holbrooke had undergone surgery at George Washington University Hospital over the past three days to repair a tear in his aorta.
At a holiday reception for U.S. diplomats held late Monday, President Obama praised Holbrooke as “simply one of the giants of American foreign policy” who has served the nation “with distinction for nearly 50 years,” including his work in negotiating the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian war in the former Yugoslavia.
Holbrooke was the special U.S. representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The State Department reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari spoke with Holbrooke’s wife, Kati Marton, Sunday morning.
