Nairobi — United States President Barack Obama is expected to announce the appointment of a special envoy to Sudan Wednesday, a move that will be welcomed by campaigners concerned that his new adminstration has been moving too slowly to address African issues.

The New York Times reports that he will name Major Gen. J. Scott Gration to the post. Gration is a retired Air Force general.

According to the Times, Gration grew up in Africa as the son of missionaries and speaks Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa. Swahili is not spoken in Sudan.

The appointment comes just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Since the warrant's issue on March 4, Sudan has expelled at least 13 non-governmental agencies, some of which provided services to refugees. Obama criticized the expulsions, saying they could lead to "a potential crisis of even greater dimensions" than Sudanese civilians already suffered.

Gration's appointment comes in the wake of increasing pressure from Darfur lobby groups, including the Genocide Intervention Network and Save Darfur, as well as members of Congress who have called for the immediate naming of a special envoy.

Gration's Bush administration predecessor is Richard S. Williamson, a Princeton-and University of Virginia School of Law-educated former ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs and member of the Council on Foreign Relations.