WASHINGTON
The White House on Friday appointed a special envoy for hostage affairs as a part of a hostage policy revision following the beheading of several American hostages by Daesh.
President Barack Obama named Jim O'Brien as the head of the hostage affairs in order to help interagency coordination and to smooth contacts with foreign governments in hostage issues.
The newly appointed envoy is currently vice chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy and business advisory firm based in Washington.
He previously served as the presidential envoy for the Balkans in the 1990s and helped to formulate the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian War.
O’Brien also served as a senior adviser to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and as Deputy Director of the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning.
“Jim is exactly the right person for a job that demands a high level of diplomatic experience and the ability to analyze and find effective remedies to complex problems,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
The White House's decision to revise its hostage policy came in late June after some families of hostages complained they weren’t receiving adequate information about their loved ones, and that the U.S. prohibited them from making contact with terror groups or from paying ransom.
Obama established a central hub that will work with the families of hostages, and agencies, to help secure the safe return of captured Americans, in addition to working with the Justice Department to not sue those families that decide to pay ransom.
