Trump picks John Coale as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs

Oct 4 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that lawyer and current Belarus envoy John Coale, who has been credited with the release of hundreds of prisoners, would be his special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 15 prisoners last month after talks with Coale, who has been talking to Minsk for more than a year.

“John has already secured the return of over 65 Americans and Allied Citizens from Belarus over the last year, and negotiated the release of more than 800 political prisoners from multiple countries in Eastern Europe,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Coale will replace Adam Boehler, who Trump said had brought back 196 hostages. Boehler, who in August helped to secure the release of a former American marine from Russia, will continue to assist in other matters as a senior adviser, Trump added.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sergio Non and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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