David Pearce, a 30-year veteran of the Foreign Service will replace US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman after December 14, 2012, US official said. Marc Grossman, who announced his resignation last month, is the second high profile official in the Obama administration - Secretary of State Clinton being the first - to resign on December 14, 2012.
Grossman took charge of the office shortly after the sudden death of former Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrook in December 2010. An official of the US Embassy, who wished not to be named, told Business Recorder that David Pearce, who is currently serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Senior Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is considered to be the most suitable candidate for the office.
The official said that though Pearce will serve as the acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan after December 14, yet he has strong support within the Obama administration and will soon be elevated to the office of Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pearce, a 30-year veteran of the Foreign Service with long experience in the Middle East, assumed his position as Senior Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in July 2012, according to State Department official website. He is also serving concurrently as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. Before that, Ambassador Pearce was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Kabul, one of five ambassador-level positions at the embassy.
Prior to Kabul, he was the US Ambassador to the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria from 2008 to 2011. He was also Chief of Mission and Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem from 2003 to 2005. He was a reporter and foreign correspondent for nearly a decade before joining the Foreign Service.