Ambassador Princeton Lyman Appointed Special Envoy to Sudan

East Africa  |  03.31.11   By Motaroki

President Barack Obama on Thursday announced the appointment of Ambassador Princeton Lyman as the new U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan.  Since last August, Princeton Lyman has been a senior adviser to the State Department working on the negotiations between north and south Sudan. He has served as the U.S. ambassador to both Nigeria and South Africa.

“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,” said Obama.

Ambassador Lyman will replace General Scott Gration who has been selected to be the new U.S. Ambassador in Kenya and is awaiting Senate confirmation.  Since last August, Lyman worked closely with General Gration as the State Department’s Senior Advisor on Sudan North-South Negotiations.

Both were part of the United States diplomatic effort that led to an historic and peaceful independence referendum for South Sudan on July 9, 2010. Obama expressed full confidence and support that Ambassador Lyman will advance U.S. interests and the aspirations of the Sudanese people during this transition.

In his new capacity, Ambassador Lyman will oversee the US Government 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, and a definitive end to the conflict in Darfur.

This year’s referendum was the culminating point of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ending two decades of civil war between the North and the South that killed some 2 million people and drove an estimated 4.5 million others from their homes.

In Abyei, a separate referendum was held simultaneously with the rest of Southern Sudan in January to decide whether to become part of the North or South. However, attempts to create a referendum commission were postponed as communities in the area continue fighting over the right to vote.

Abyei has witnessed a series of attacks in recent days that have killed more than 100 people and displaced thousands of people. The Abyei region is considered the bridge between North and South. The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was deployed to safeguard the region and enforce peace.

“We only have 100 days before July 9, when the south is to become fully independent,” Lyman told reporters at the State Department in Washington. “They have a lot of tough issues to negotiate.”  Ambassador Lyman leaves for Sudan this Saturday to commence his duties.

The Obama administration has laid out a “road map” for normalizing relations with Khartoum that is dependent on its cooperation.  Lyman told reporters he expects a decision removing Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism at the time the south becomes independent in July.

Ambassador Lyman leaves for Sudan and Ethiopia this Saturday to commence his duties as Special Envoy and will be joined by Dane Smith who is the U.S. point man on Darfur.

 

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