UNITED KINGDOM/NETHERLANDS: Martin Bell and Paddy Ashdown pay tribute to veteran U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a day after he died unexpectedly

Record ID: 573803

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM/NETHERLANDS: Martin Bell and Paddy Ashdown pay tribute to veteran U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a day after he died unexpectedly
  • Date: 15th December 2010
  • Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (DECEMBER 14, 2010) (REUTERS) BUILDING OF INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA WHERE MARTIN BELL SPENT A DAY AS A COURT WITNESS AT RADOVAN KARADZIC TRIAL ENTRANCE TO THE TRIBUNAL BEHIND THE FENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English), MARTIN BELL, SAYING: "I think a death of Richard Holbrooke is a great loss to diplomacy and obviously especially to American diplomacy, among those he dealt with especially over the Dayton agreement, which was his great achievement, I think he will remembered by many of them with respect if not always with affection, but it was a great achievement and it was primarily his." MARTIN BELL WALKS AWAY
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAAT0G9FYWZ41LNRHM1758V29UU
  • Story Text: Martin Bell, a former reporter for the BBC who covered the siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, on Tuesday (December 14) paid tribute to veteran U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who died suddenly the day before.
    He said Holbrooke would be remembered with respect for the part he played in bringing together warring factions to sign the 1995 Dayton Accords which ended the Bosnian war.
    "I think the death of Richard Holbrooke is a great loss to diplomacy and obviously especially to American diplomacy, among those he dealt with especially over the Dayton agreement, which was his great achievement, I think he will remembered by many of them with respect if not always with affection, but it was a great achievement and it was primarily his," Bell said.
    Bell reported for the BBC during the Bosnian war and covered the siege of Sarajevo in 1992-1996, one of worst atrocities of the Bosnian war.
    Paddy Ashdown, the High Commissioner for Bosnia-Herzegovina from 2002 for three and a half years, also praised Holbrooke's achievements.
    He said he believed Holbrooke was a diplomat for a different age, when America could adopt a position of might rather than having to negotiate.
    "But he was a very great international civil servant. I never knew him use American power for less than moral purposes, for less than purposes of peace and he was, I think, a big figure who will be much missed, Ashdown said of Holbrooke.
    Holbrooke fell ill on Friday and died on Monday after intensive surgery to repair a torn aorta.
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