Richard Holbrook, the former United States Ambassador [Images] to United Nations, is likely to be appointed envoy to Pakistan, Afghanistan and related matters by the new Obama [Images] administration after Hillary Clinton [Images] was sworn in as the secretary of State earlier today.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell is likely to be announced as Middle East Envoy, the Washington Post reported, quoting sources close to the Obama  administration.

Holbrooke would be entrusted with the difficult task of soothing the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the newspaper said.

"Left unsaid is that Holbrooke's brief could extend to India, which has been a victim of Islamic terrorism from Pakistan but is suspicious of third-party intervention in the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir," The Post said.

Known as a hard taskmaster, Holbrooke was the chief architect of the Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian conflict in the mid-1990s.

Earlier US media reports had said that Holbrook would be named as the Special Envoy for India and Pakistan with a mandate to resolve the Kashmir problem.