Exclusive-U.S. special envoy for Horn of Africa to leave post

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, attends a news conference in Benghazi August 20, 2011. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman will step down from his post this month after more than nine months in the job, and David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Turkey, will take up the role, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Feltman, a veteran U.S. diplomat, assumed the post in April and quickly found himself in the middle of two major crises - Ethiopia's deepening civil war between forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the army of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as well as a military coup in Sudan in October.