The US special envoy for Afghanistan is stepping down at a key juncture in troubled US-Afghan ties and as the country grapples with a political crisis triggered by disputed presidential elections. James Dobbins, a veteran diplomat with deep ties to Afghanistan, is retiring after just over a year in office and will be replaced by his deputy Dan Feldman, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Wednesday.
The shuffle comes as the two candidates to be Afghanistan's next president - succeeding Hamid Karzai, who has held the reins for 13 years - wrangle over alleged fraud in the elections. The row threatens the country's first democratic transfer of power and risks damaging US hopes of a smooth handover as it prepares to withdraw all US forces by late 2016.
Dobbins' "relationship with President Karzai was invaluable, particularly at difficult moments," Kerry said, announcing the departure of his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The veteran diplomat, who came out of retirement to take up the post in May 2013, has steered negotiations to draw up a security pact to safeguard US troops staying in Afghanistan beyond this year.
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