Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher Dies VOA News March 19, 2011 Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher pauses during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on war powers in the 21st century in Washington, April 28, 2009 Photo: AP Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher pauses during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on war powers in the 21st century in Washington, April 28, 2009 Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who brokered the 1981 release of American hostages in Iran, has died of complications from kidney and bladder cancer. The 85-year-old former top American diplomat was at his home in California, surrounded by family at the time of his death on Friday night. For five decades he played a key role in American civic and public life, as a lawyer or negotiating foreign policy crises and helping investigate and resolve contentious U.S. domestic and political