Obama names envoys for Mideast, Afghanistan
![Obama names envoys for Mideast, Afghanistan](../../attachement/jpg/site1/20090124/00221917e13e0ae4a69e2a.jpg)
President Barack Obama named special envoys on Thursday for the long-troubled Middle East and the violent Afghanistan-Pakistan region and promised US help in ensuring a lasting truce in Gaza.
Obama chose former Senator George Mitchell as an envoy who will try to jump-start moribund Arab-Israeli peace talks.
In a flurry of diplomatic activity in his first week in office, Obama also tapped former ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke to be the first-ever special US envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan and related issues.
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