Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.
Ambassador Lucy Tamlyn, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counselor, will serve as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at our Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, following Brian Shukan’s nomination as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement on Monday.
“Ambassador Tamlyn will bring a wealth of experience to the role, having served previously as the Director of the Office of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan and as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Benin and then to the Central African Republic,” Blinken said.
He added, “I am sending Ambassador Tamlyn to Khartoum during this critical juncture in Sudan’s democratic transition with the full confidence of Washington behind her. Ambassador Tamlyn will serve in this role pending the nomination and confirmation of a U.S. Ambassador to Sudan.
“I would like to express my deep appreciation to Chargé Shukan for his exceptional leadership in partnering with Sudanese actors to achieve a democratic transition and to fulfill the aspirations of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace, and justice.”
Tamlyn is expected to lead diplomatic moves for peace to return in Sudan, following years of turmoil and the resignation recently of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.