Washington:
President Barack Obama has described critically ill Richard Holbrooke as "a towering figure" in American foreign policy and said that he was praying for the recovery of the "tireless public servant", who is his point man for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
69-year-old Holbrooke, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in critical condition following a 20-hour surgery yesterday to repair a tear in his aorta, the large artery that takes blood from the heart.
Holbrooke suddenly collapsed on Friday morning during an annual Af-Pak policy review meeting of the White House with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
He was first taken to the state department's medical unit and later rushed to the George Washington University Hospital a few blocks away.
"... doctors completed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family," State Department spokesman, P J Crowley, said yesterday.
Obama spoke to Holbrooke's wife Kati and told her that he and the First Lady are praying for him.
"Richard Holbrooke is a towering figure in American foreign policy, a critical member of my Afghanistan and Pakistan team and a tireless public servant who has won the admiration of the American people and people around the world," the President said.
"I know that Secretary (of State, Hillary) Clinton, Admiral (Mike) Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Tom Donilon (National Security Adviser), and other members of our team have been with him at George Washington hospital, and we continue to pray for his recovery, and support his family in this difficult time," Obama said in a statement.
Holbrooke's illness comes just days before the Obama administration is expected to release the results of its review of the war in Afghanistan.
Holbrooke is a career diplomat best known for brokering the peace agreement between Bosnian factions in 1995 that became the Dayton accords.
He served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration. He also was American ambassador to Germany from 1993 to 1994 and then assistant secretary of state for European affairs.