Update (1817 EST): Ambassador Godfrey has been released from the hospital with minor injuries and bruising. Two other embassy employees were injured, but are stable. One of the guards sustained a broken arm. The transitional government agreed with Washington to exchange ambassadors for the first time since 1997 and Ambassador Godfrey is the first U.S. representative in the country since then, checking in last August after the coup.
According to Sudanese local media, U.S. Ambassador Godfrey was involved in a car crash on Al-Jumhuriya Street in Khartoum. He was transferred to Royal Care Hospital. While no details have been released as to the ambassador’s injuries, his body guard reportedly suffered a broken hand. This is developing.
From his page on the U.S. State Department’s website:
“John Godfrey, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Sudan. He previously served as acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism and acting Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Prior to this he served as Principal Deputy Coordinator, and before that as Deputy Coordinator for Regional and Multilateral Affairs, in the Counterterrorism Bureau. Prior to that he was acting Deputy Chief of Mission (2017-2018) and Political Counselor (2015-2016) at U.S. Embassy Riyadh. He served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State during a period that encompassed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Egyptian Armed Forces’ removal from office of President Morsi, and the emergence of ISIS. Previous positions also include Arms Control Counselor at the U.S. Permanent Mission to International Organizations in Vienna; Deputy Political Counselor for Northern Affairs at U.S. Embassy Baghdad; and Political and Economic Counselor at U.S. Embassy Tripoli, where he was part of the small team that finalized the U.S.-Libya Claims Settlement Agreement, securing compensation for families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing and other acts of terrorism.
Mr. Godfrey holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles and an MA in Middle East and North Africa Studies from the University of Michigan. He speaks Arabic and Russian.”
