U.S. to spend $1m on accommodations for Mideast envoy George Mitchell

       U.S. officials said Friday the State Department will spend about $1 million to renovate, reconfigure and furnish the Washington workspace of special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell and outfit satellite offices for him in Jerusalem and in New York, where he lives. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Friday that $27,000 has already been set aside to upgrade Mitchell's sixth-floor suite at the department's headquarters and that more money may be needed. Additional funding may be required for further work as staffing requirements and other needs are identified, Wood said. This reconfiguration and renovation is designed to enhance efficiencies and staff coordination for this very important mission. The cost of the other offices is still being determined, but officials say they expect the price for all three, excluding additional staff, to reach seven figures. Mitchell and his staff had been allocated rooms on the State Department's first floor near the offices of other special envoys such as Richard Holbrooke, Dennis Ross and Todd Stern, who handle, respectively, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Southwest Asia and the Gulf, and climate change. But officials said he wanted to be closer to the front office of the department's Near East regional bureau, which is located on the sixth floor and that the renovations were needed to adapt the available space there. Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic leader who negotiated the Northern Ireland peace accord, does not receive a government salary. (09,14)