PM pays tribute to US diplomat Richard Holbrooke
Prime Minister David Cameron has paid tribute to US diplomat Richard Holbrooke who has died at the age of 69.
Mr Holbrooke, who was President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, was hospitalised last week after he became ill.
Mr Cameron said the veteran diplomat would be “always be remembered” for his work on the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war in 1995.
The PM said:
I am deeply saddened by the death of Richard Holbrooke. He was a formidable force of American diplomacy - an indefatigable champion in the cause of peace, who worked tirelessly for a better world.
Most recently his energies were devoted to finding a peaceful way forward for Afghanistan and her people. But he will always be remembered for his pre-eminent role in ending the vicious war in Bosnia, where his force of personality and his negotiating skill combined to drive through the Dayton peace agreement and put a halt to the fighting.
He was a true public servant who will be greatly missed.