Senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies

The critically ill veteran diplomat Holbrooke, 69, who had undergone many hours of surgery for a torn aorta, died Monday. AFP photo
Richard Holbrooke, a brilliant and feisty U.S. diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, died Monday, the U.S. State Department said. He was 69.