'Sense of duty' puts veteran U.S. envoy in middle of Ethiopia conflict

FILE PHOTO: U.N. Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman speaks during a news conference in Colombo March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.N. political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman met Iran's supreme leader and top North Korean officials. Now back with the U.S. foreign service, his focus is compelling a Nobel Peace laureate and rivals to stop a war and avert famine in Ethiopia.

After leaving the United Nations in 2018, Feltman was happy in what he dubbed "quasi-retirement" and "government service fell into the 'been there done that' category." Then, as rumors swirled that the Biden administration would ask him to be the U.S. envoy on Syria, he was instead asked to take on the Horn of Africa.