State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Crocker told the Afghan government and NATO-led forces that "he intends to depart his post for health reasons in mid-summer, following the Kabul and Tokyo Conferences."
Nuland`s statement did not elaborate on the reasons.
The US embassy in Kabul said earlier on its Twitter feed that Crocker was leaving in the summer without giving any reason.
Nuland said "Crocker`s tenure has been marked by enormous achievements."
She listed them as the Bonn Conference on the transition from NATO to Afghan security control from 2014 as well as the conclusion of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, which cements post-war US-Afghan ties after 2014.
She also listed two memoranda of understanding on detentions and special operations, and the Chicago NATO Summit that backed plans to hand Afghans the combat lead from mid-2013 while vowing to stand by them in the long run.
"As Ambassador Crocker noted, together, `these achievements are the guarantee that as Afghanistan moves to a brighter future secured by its own capabilities, it does so... in sovereign and equal partnership with the United States in particular and the international community generally,`" she said. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
