France appoints special envoy for Pakistan, Afghanistan

August 25th, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed French UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert as the first Special Envoy in charge of humanitarian affairs for Pakistan. Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said Ripert would assist the Pakistan Government and the international community to respond to the current humanitarian crisis in the country.

August 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) delegation met with US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Tuesday and conveyed the party's concerns over the expansion in the US embassy in Islamabad and the drone attacks, besides raising the issue of Dr Aafia Siddiqui's detention. According to The News, the delegation comprising JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch and Naib Ameer Dr Muhammad Kamal met the US special envoy at the US Embassy.

August 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US will provide all help to Pakistan to deal with its crushing energy crisis, but it has no "magic solution" to the ongoing crisis, top US envoy Richard Holbrooke has said. "We are committed to resolve the energy crisis in Pakistan.

July 26th, 2009 LONDON - Saturday's suicide attack on government buildings in Afghanistan's southeastern city of Khost has raised fears in Pakistan about more such strikes and blood shed by the Taliban in the near future. With elections in Afghanistan less than a month away, the increased extremist activities has raised the pressure bar on Pakistan to help ensure a peaceful election.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday announced that the US would extend further aid of 165 million dollars for the displaced persons in Pakistan. Addressing a news conference along with State Minister for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, the US envoy said from the above aid 40 million dollars will be for infrastructure development in the affected areas of Malakand; 2.5 millions for reconstruction of houses; 30 millions for small schemes and; 3 million dollars for repatriation of the IDPs.

July 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US special envoy Richard Holbrooke is headed for Pakistan and Afghanistan on a trip that focuses on the plight of internal refugees and security issues and will also take him to India. "Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke is travelling to Pakistan July 21 through 23 and then subsequently to Afghanistan," White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

July 21st, 2009 US diplomat to hold talks in Pakistan, AfghanistanWASHINGTON — The Obama administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan is traveling to those countries this week for talks. State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters that Richard Holbrooke will be in Islamabad from Tuesday through Thursday.

July 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Wednesday assured India that it has no plans to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir as it considers it to be a matter between New Delhi and Islamabad. "I can assure you that we are not going to appoint a special Kashmir envoy," Assistant Secretary for South Central Asian Affairs Robert O.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan has moved more troops to its border with Afghanistan than it has to its border with India since the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attacks, according to a top US official. But the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, declined to say how many troops Pakistan has moved from the border with India even as he refuted a suggestion that Pakistani troops there are back to the pre-Mumbai attack levels.

June 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday said the United States is seeking an extra 200 million dollar in emergency aid to help Pakistanis displaced by a military offensive in the northwest against the Taliban. "Today, the president has asked me to inform you and your government that he has requested the Congress of the United States to allocate an additional 200 million dollars," The News quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

April 25th, 2009 LAHORE - US Special Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said there is no evidence that India is supporting violence in Pakistan. "If the Indians were supporting those miscreants in Pakistan that would be extraordinarily bad, really dangerous, but they are not doing so.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A seasoned South Asia hand and a polyglot, who speaks fluent Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and Sinhalese, A. Peter Burleigh is set to take over as the US' Charge D' Affaires (head of mission) in New Delhi Monday.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With American President Barack Obama's new strategy envisaging a bigger role for India in stabilising Afghanistan, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke comes here next week to explore ways in which New Delhi could help in defeating the Taliban - a common enemy. Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is likely to be in India April 7, official sources told IANS.

March 5th, 2009 PARIS - The new French special envoy to Afghanistan, Pierre Lellouche, said in an interview published Wednesday that NATO allies fighting on Afghan soil must not revert to the unilateral approach taken by former US president George W. Bush. 'It is normal that we act as co-pilots in the international strategy in Afghanistan,' Lellouche told the daily Le Monde.

January 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Terming it an opportunity to improve stability in the region, Pakistan Friday welcomed the appointment of Richard Holbrooke as the special US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. 'Pakistan welcomes the appointment of ambassador Holbrooke and looks forward to enhanced and fruitful engagement with the special envoy to further the cause of peace and stability of the region,' Dawn quoted the foreign ministry spokesman as saying.