Andrew Natsios to leave USAID

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2005

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Andrew Natsios is stepping down as head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to take a university teaching job, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced.

"It's with real regret that I announce that Andrew Natsios has decided to step down effective at the beginning of next year, mid-January," Rice told reporters.

Natsios, who took over as USAID administrator in May 2001, was leaving to join the faculty of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He also said he had accumulated enough material to write "several books."

USAID is a federal government agency that supports US foreign policy objectives by promoting economic growth, global health, pro-democracy efforts and humanitarian assistance. Its 2005 budget...