New Middle East envoy old hand in troubled region

(CNN) -- Gen. Anthony Zinni, the new U.S. envoy to the Middle East, has plenty of experience in dealing with rough international neighborhoods. The Bush Administration has tapped the former head of Persian Gulf forces to help the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a cease-fire.

A retired Marine, Zinni served as commander of the U.S. Central Command, which oversaw U.S. security interests in 25 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf region and into Central Asia. The four-star general was in charge of Operation Desert Fox in 1998, the four-day air campaign waged by the United States and Britain in an effort to force Iraqi compliance with U.N. weapons inspectors.

In August 2000, Zinni retired from the military. At the time he spoke critically about U.S. military readiness, saying defense budget cuts had made the prospect of fighting a major war in the Persian Gulf difficult.

He took a job as an advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a military think tank in Washington.

Besides holding leadership positions in the military, Zinni saw combat and other action overseas. The son of an Italian immigrant who settled in Philadelphia, Zinni joined the Marines in 1961 and became an infantry officer in 1965 when he graduated from Villanova University.

Taking part in everything from special operations to humanitarian efforts to counterterrorism, the Purple Heart winner served in Vietnam, the Philippines, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the western Pacific, northern Europe and Korea.

Moreover, Zinni served in Turkey, northern Iraq, the former Soviet Union and Kenya. In 1995, he supervised the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia, where two years before militants with reported ties to Osama bin Laden downed two U.S. helicopters and killed 18 U.S. soldiers.

After the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, the general also was in charge of the reprisal, a missile attack on al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and a factory in Sudan.

U.S. intelligence sources said the factory was being used to make chemical weapons but critics said it only produced needed drugs in the impoverished country.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Zinni would serve as a senior adviser in helping both parties in the Middle East achieve a "durable cease-fire."

"He is a distinguished soldier, Marine, with long experience in the Middle East, particularly on security issues. He will be an invaluable addition to our team," added Powell, in announcing Zinni's appointment.

Powell dispatched Zinni to the region to work with senior-level committees set up by both Israel and the Palestinians. Establishing a cease-fire will be Zinni's first goal.

"Get that cease-fire in place and other things can start to happen. Without that cease-fire, we are still trapped in the quicksand of hatred," said Powell, in a speech at the University of Louisville on November 19.

Zinni also has diplomatic experience, having taken part in presidential missions to Somalia, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Eritrea. He helped Ethiopia and Eritrea as they tried to resolve a geographic dispute that sparked a border war.