Frank Ruggiero, a career civil servant who served under late Richard Holbrooke, has been made the Acting U.S. Special Representative to the Af-Pak region and will be assisted by two deputies, one of them an Indian-American.
Announcing the elevation of Mr. Ruggiero, who was Holbrooke's deputy, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has retained the team which the late Special Envoy created for his Afghanistan and Pakistan agenda.
Mr. Ruggiero, Holbrooke's key aid, has been moved up to be the Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), he said.
“He will lead the SRAP structure that Richard Holbrooke constructed, and will really serve as one of his, you know, finest legacies, assisted by two deputies, Dan Feldman and [Indian—American] Vikram Singh,” he said.
“The SRAP structure that will continue on in his absence combines individuals and experts from across government. It incorporates international partners into this structure.
“It is expressly the kind of organisation that he felt was absent in Vietnam and for which he has built a crack team that will continue the policies that the administration pursues within the context of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Mr. Crowley.
Mr. Ruggiero joined Ms. Clinton at a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday at the White House that focused on the annual review of Afghanistan policy, he said .
“He has assumed the acting SRAP responsibility. He is at the White House as we speak,” said Mr. Crowley.
