Former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson has passed away at the age of 75, DW reports. Bill Richardson was a seasoned Democratic politician who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and later as the energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. He also held the position of governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011 and ran for the presidency in 2008.
He was widely recognized for his decades-long dedication to negotiating the release of detained Americans across the globe, often engaging with leaders of countries with strained relations with the U.S. Some of his notable achievements include negotiating the release of American aerospace workers held by Iraq's Saddam Hussein in 1995, securing the freedom of U.S. citizen Evan Hunziker imprisoned in North Korea on spy charges in 1996, and retrieving the remains of American troops missing since the Korean War in the 1950s.
More recently, Richardson played a role in securing the release of basketball star Brittney Griner from Russian detention and helping negotiate the freedom of journalist Danny Fenster, who was jailed by Myanmar's junta in 2021.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, where he worked on issues related to freeing hostages and wrongly detained individuals, announced his peaceful passing in his sleep on Friday night.
Throughout his career, Bill Richardson dedicated himself to public service and was renowned for his unwavering commitment to helping individuals regain their freedom when detained unjustly abroad. His passing has been marked with tributes recognizing his significant contributions to diplomacy and humanitarian efforts.
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