U.S. Ambassador Holbrooke in critical condition following surgery

U.S. Ambassador Holbrooke in critical condition following surgery

2010-12-11 23:09:50 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the president's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in a critical condition after having surgery on Saturday, the U.S. State Department said.

Holbrooke, 69, was rushed to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. on Friday after he collapsed on the seventh floor of the U.S. State Department building. He underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta.

"He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said, without providing other details.

Holbrooke has served as President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan since January 2009. Before that, the veteran diplomat served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations between August 1999 and January 2001 under President Bill Clinton.

He also served in other capacities, but he is best known for helping broker the 1995 agreement which ended the war in Bosnia.

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