Retired diplomat and former ambassador to Turkey Marc Grossman will replace the late Richard Holbrooke as US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, The Washington Post reported Monday. It said months of disagreements between the White House and the State Department over the parameters of the job had delayed the announcement. His last post before retiring from the foreign service in 2005 was undersecretary for political affairs under former president George W. Bush's first term in office. He currently serves as vice president of the Cohen Group, a consulting firm. Although the group has several clients with contracts in South Asia, officials told the Post they did not see that as an obstacle to Grossman's appointment.