Statement on the Appointment of Princeton N. Lyman as United States Special Envoy to Sudan

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman as the new U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan. With a lifetime of experience working on some of Africa's most pressing challenges, Ambassador Lyman is uniquely qualified to sustain our efforts in support of a peaceful and prosperous future for the Sudanese people. I also want to thank my friend Scott Gration for his tireless and effective work as my previous Special Envoy. As the State Department's senior adviser on Sudan north-south negotiations since last August, Ambassador Lyman worked closely with General Gration as part of the American diplomatic effort that led to an historic and peaceful independence referendum for South Sudan.

I was proud to nominate General Gration as our next Ambassador to Kenya, and I am grateful that Ambassador Lyman has agreed to take on this new assignment and sustain the progress that has been made. In his new capacity, Ambassador Lyman will oversee our support for full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, reduced tensions between north and south over the status of Abyei, the birth of an independent South Sudan on July 9, 2011, and a definitive end to the conflict in Darfur. In those efforts, he has my full support and confidence.

Just as the United States depended on his diplomatic skills to help support the peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy when he was U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, I am confident that Ambassador Lyman's deep knowledge of the African Continent will advance U.S. interests and the aspirations of the Sudanese people during this time of transformative change in Sudan.