UNITED NATIONS -- After just five months on the job, John Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned from his post, his spokesman, Richard Grenell, said Thursday evening.
Grenell did not say why the ambassador had decided to resign. (Text of resignation letter)
Danforth, 68, a former U.S. senator from Missouri, was sworn in as America's U.N. ambassador in July, replacing John Negroponte, who became as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Danforth had been mentioned as a possible choice to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, but President Bush opted to instead appoint National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
In 2001, Bush appointed Danforth as his envoy to help mediate between warring factions in Sudan. Last month, with Danforth holding the presidency of the U.N. Security Council, members traveled from New York to Nairobi, Kenya, for a special session on the Sudan crisis.
The U.S. ambassador has been pressing U.N. members to take a stronger stand against human rights abuses in the African country.
Danforth, a Republican, served three terms in the Senate before retiring in 1994 and returning to his law practice. He is also an ordained Episcopal priest, and he presided at the state funeral for former President Ronald Reagan in June, shortly after being nominated to the U.N. post.
Taken from CNN