US Envoy In Line For Key Iraq Post

By David Paul Kuhn
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

The Senate must confirm Negroponte's nomination.

Negroponte would assume the new post after the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraqis. Scheduled for June 30, the White House lacks a firm plan on how the handover will occur, and it remains unclear exactly who will govern Iraq following the deadline.

Upon the transfer of sovereignty, the U.S. plans to open a "super embassy" consisting of some 3,000 staff members.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell favored Negroponte's nomination. Others who were reported as being on the White House "short list" are former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Thomas R. Pickering and Robert D. Blackwill, a senior National Security Council official who also served as U.S. ambassador to India.

Although Negroponte is largely unknown outside U.N. circles, he has represented the United States through the long period of negotiations over Iraq. He is respected by fellow ambassadors and, like Powell, he is seen as a fair-minded envoy.

A foreign service officer since 1960, Negroponte was a deputy to Powell in the National Security Council. Confirmed as ambassador to the U.N. s a week after the Sept. 11 attacks, Negroponte speaks Greek, French, Spanish, Vietnamese and English. During press conferences Negroponte often switches easily between English, Spanish and French.

Once confirmed, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq would lead the largest U.S. mission abroad. By any measure, it is also the most dangerous American diplomatic post. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Baghdad, never appears in public without bodyguards.