US special envoy Richard Holbrooke is critically ill in hospital after undergoing surgery for a ruptured aorta, the State Department said Saturday.
Holbrooke, special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, collapsed at his office in the State Department on Friday afternoon and was taken to the intensive care unit of the George Washington University hospital, dpa reported.
The 69-year-old diplomat has made countless trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan during the two years he has been the state department's special envoy.
A former ambassador to Germany, Holbrooke also helped broker the 1995 Dayton accords, which ended the Balkans war.
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