Robert "Bud" McFarlane, who was President Reagan's National Security Advisor, has been hired by Qatar to a $2.5M contract to sort out the mess in Sudan's Darfur region.

Bud McFarlane

McFarlane Associates is to assist Qatar in its initiative to "sponsor and organize a peace process to resolve the conflict in Darfur," according to the contract between the two parties.

The Arlington, Va-headquartered firm is to line up "assistance of respected third-parties toward this objective."

The bulk of MA's $206K projected average monthly budget goes for airfare to Doha and other Middle Eastern destinations. Six trips are planned over the course of the one-year contract for four advisors. Average hotel room cost is pegged at $375 a night, while per diem meal fee in the Middle East is pegged at $150, and $100 in the U.S.  MA pegs its monthly fee at $63,500.

McFarlane, who commanded an artillery battery in Vietnam, served as military assistant to Henry Kissinger and Brett Scowcroft during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

In the Reagan White House, he served as special representative to the Middle East and was one of the brains behind the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") missile defense scheme.

Prior to MA, McFarlane established Global Energy Investors to develop infrastructure projects in the Middle East, Africa and Russia.

On the Darfur business, MA reports to Qatar's Ambassador Abdulla Al-Sulaiti.