WASHINGTON (AFP) — The third highest-ranking official at the US State Department and the pointman in talks to step up sanctions on Iran is quitting his job, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Friday.
Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, will be succeeded by the US ambassador to Moscow, William Burns, the department said. The two men are not related.
After 26 years as a top notch, soft-spoken career diplomat, Burns "has decided it was time for him to retire from the Foreign Service," Rice told reporters in a surprise announcement.
"He's decided that it's the right moment to go back to family concerns. And while it is a sad thing for us, it is certainly something that I understand and respect," Rice said, with Burns by her side.
His retirement came at a crucial juncture of the administration of President George W. Bush's foreign policy agenda amid no breakthrough in US led efforts to boost sanctions against Iran over its sensitive nuclear program as well as to end North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
There is also little headway in forging a civilian nuclear deal with India, a pet project of Burns, with 12 months before Bush leaves office.
"I hope that his exit will not further contribute to the President's confused foreign policy and further erode our moral and diplomatic standing as we enter this administration's final year," commented Democratic Senator Chris Dodd.
Rice acknowledged that Burns' departure would be a big loss.
"Obviously, when someone of Nick's caliber and quality decides to step down, you think mostly of what is going to be lost for the government, for someone who is such a committed person in carrying out the president's policies," she said.
Prior to his latest assignment in March 2005, Burns was US permanent representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
He had also served twice as ambassador to Greece, and was spokesman for the State Department.
Burns, who will turn 52 on January 28, was also a staff member of the National Security Council at the White House in the early 1990s. In addition, he had been a special assistant to president Bill Clinton.
The White House said in a statement that president Bush valued Burns' "sound advice" and his "strong commitment to advancing America's interests across the globe" and hoped his successor would continue to help achieve America's key foreign policy goals.
Burns will stay in his current post until March, especially to help craft a third UN Security Council sanctions' resolution against Iran.
He will accompany Rice for key talks next week with her counterparts from Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany in Berlin next week to discuss the new sanctions.
It would be the first foreign minister level meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, dubbed the P5-plus-1, since September.
Last month, Rice admitted that the United States has "tactical differences" with Russia and China about the "timing, about the nature of any further sanctions."
Burns has also agreed to, after his retirement, help push the US-India civilian nuclear deal to conclusion and also help in efforts by the Bush administration to secure an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
He pledged to support Rice as she "contend with these extraordinary challenges at this difficult time."
"You can count on that."
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
