By Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Special Ambassador for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman is stepping down this month. David Satterfield will replace him, according to three people familiar with the matter.

In April, Feltman (a former U.S. diplomat) assumed the role. Within a few days, he was caught in the middle two major crises – Ethiopia’s growing civil war, between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front forces and the army under Prime Minister Abiy, plus a coup in Sudan in Oct.

His departure was announced before he traveled to Ethiopia to discuss peace negotiations as part of Washington’s current push to end the conflict.

Feltman, 62, said https://www.reuters.com/world/sense-duty-puts-veteran-us-envoy-middle-ethiopia-conflict-2021-11-05 a “sense of duty” brought him out of “quasi-retirement” following more than 25 years as an American diplomat with postings to the United Nations, Middle East and North Africa.

According to a source, Feltman accepted the position with the intention of serving less than a one-year term. Satterfield, a source stated that the U.S. will continue its focus on the area because of continuing instability and inter-related challenges.

The State Department did not respond to our request for comment.

Feltman faced many obstacles to his progress. An African bloody conflict that raged for a year between the government of Ethiopia and the leaders of northern Tigray has left thousands dead, caused millions to be displaced, and created famine.

Demonstrations in Sudan continued for weeks. They were even more intense on Tuesday two days following the resignation of Prime Minster Abdalla Hamdok. He was in office from 2019 to the coup, and was re-elected on November 21 under an accord with the military that protesters widely opposed.

Satterfield, a U.S. Foreign Service Veteran with over 40 years of experience has held a difficult post as U.S. ambassador to Turkey. There he navigated a strained relationship between NATO allies.

He served as an ambassador to Ankara before moving on to other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Turkey’s growing drone exports to Ethiopia will continue to be an important thread in Satterfield’s new and old roles. In December, Washington raised its sale of drones to Ethiopia with Turkey. Sources claimed that there were growing evidences suggesting the government had used the weapons against rebel fighters.