WASHINGTON — George J. Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic leader, shown above, is expected to be named as incoming Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s special envoy for the Mideast, diplomatic officials said Wednesday.
Mitchell, 75, will be returning to a role he pursued during President Bill Clinton’s presidency after his tenure as Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1995. The former senior senator from Maine, Mitchell took on several difficult diplomatic assignments, including as chairman of peace talks on Northern Ireland.
Mitchell also led an international commission to investigate violence in the Middle East. His report, issued in the spring of 2001, after Clinton had left office, called for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism.
Mitchell also headed a 20-month investigation for Major League Baseball into ballplayers’ use of performance-enhancing drugs. The Associated Press
