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Friday, June 4, 2004

If confirmed by the Senate, Danforth, a Republican who is a popular figure among Republicans and Democrats, would succeed John Negroponte, Bush's choice to be ambassador to Iraq.

Since 2001, Danforth has been Bush's special envoy to war-torn Sudan. He served in the Senate for 18 years.

Bush made the announcement in a statement released while he was in Rome on a three-day European trip during which the U.N.'s role in post-occupation Iraq is a major topic.

A lawyer with a practice in St. Louis, Danforth, 68, is a former attorney general of Missouri. He is also a licensed Episcopal minister. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale University's law school.

As Bush's Sudan envoy, Danforth has attempted to mediate a peace agreeing among long-warring factions.

Bush nominated Negroponte in April to be the ambassador to Iraq's interim government, which is to gain sovereignty on June 30.

Easy Senate confirmation of Danforth seems likely, given his background as a senator and as a troubleshooter.

Danforth has been tapped before to tackle complex issues since his 1995 retirement from the Senate. During the Clinton years, he acted as special counsel appointed by then-Attorney General Janet Reno. He conducted a 14-month inquiry into the deaths in 1993 of about 80 Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas. His investigation cleared the FBI of wrongdoing.

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