Washington, DC — Jeffery Millington, formerly State Department Director for East African Affairs, has been posted to Sudan as United States charge d'affaires. Millington is the first American diplomat resident in Khartoum since the U.S. closed embassy operations there six years ago.
In 1996, Washington pulled out all official personnel, citing concerns about terrorist groups based in Sudan. U.S. diplomats in Cairo and Nairobi were rotated into Sudan for brief tours of duty.
The appointment is considered by many observers and analysts as another sign of thawing relations, and of continuing U.S. interest in finding a solution to Sudan's two-decades old civil war. "His main tasks will be to ensure that the parties to the conflict fully implement the four peace-building proposals put forth by Senator Danforth, and then to facilitate talks under the framework of the regional body of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (Igad)," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher Thursday.
Millington will also spend some of his time in Nairobi, said Boucher, although he refused to say how much time. "In the end it depends on where the work is. If there is a lot of work in Nairobi related to this peace process, he may end up there quite a bit."
Millington's appointment to Khartoum follows the recommendation made in a report to the White House by the United States special envoy for Sudan, John Danforth, to upgrade the U.S. diplomatic presence in Sudan to help bring an end to Sudan's conflict.
