Joseph Walker-Cousins

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Former British official in Benghazi, business executive and Army Reserve officer

Joseph Walker-Cousins

Occupation Business development executive; former head of the British Embassy Office, Benghazi

Joseph Walker-Cousins is a former British official in Libya and a business development executive who has held a commission in the Intelligence Corps of the Army Reserve. He was stabilisation adviser to the UK special envoy in Benghazi in 2011–12 and head of the British Embassy Office in Benghazi from 2012 to 2014.[1] He is named in a list of members of the Specialist Group Military Intelligence (SGMI) published by Anonymous in January 2019, which gives an Army email address for him.[2]

Military career

The London Gazette records that Walker-Cousins was commissioned a second lieutenant (on probation) in the Honourable Artillery Company, Territorial Army, on 1 April 2002, with seniority from 5 August 2001,[3] and that he resigned the commission on 2 April 2002.[4] He was commissioned a second lieutenant (on probation) in the Intelligence Corps, Territorial Army, on 4 December 2003,[5] and was promoted from lieutenant to captain on 2 August 2006.[6]

When appointed a special adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee in November 2015, he declared the post "Staff Officer, MENA Region, British Army Reserve".[7]

2015 court case

In May 2015 Newbury magistrates disqualified Captain Walker-Cousins from driving for 18 months and fined him £1,200 after he admitted failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Giving a character reference in his defence, Major Alex John Finnen MBE, of the Intelligence Corps Army Reserve, stationed at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, told the court that Walker-Cousins "was due to be promoted this year" but that this "would definitely not be happening" as a result of his actions.[8]

Civilian career

In March 2015 the think tank Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21) named him one of its global fellows, describing him as "Former advisor to the UK's Special Envoy & Head of the British Embassy Office in Benghazi. Director, Middle East Business Development KBR UK Ltd".[9] KBR was selected in May 2016 for the Ministry of Defence's Operational Support Capability Contract, under which it is "embedded in to the British military operational headquarters, the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ)".[10]

On 17 November 2015 the Foreign Affairs Committee appointed him special adviser to its inquiry "Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK's future policy options". He declared his interests as "Director, Middle East Business Development and Libya Country Manager, KBR UK Ltd", "Member, Libyan British Business Council", "Staff Officer, MENA Region, British Army Reserve", and independent adviser to the court in an English case.[7] The same minutes list written evidence to the inquiry from him (LIB0008).[7]

His LinkedIn profile, as quoted by the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, states that he worked at Aegis Defence Services from February 2005 to May 2006 and joined the Army as "Senior Staff Officer" in Kabul in September 2006.[11]

Integrity Initiative

Walker-Cousins appears in three Integrity Initiative documents published by Anonymous: under Saudi Arabia in a cross-country table of contacts,[12] with an Institute for Statecraft email address in a contact list,[13] and in the invitation list for the Institute's NGW seminars.[14] The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media listed him among military officers working closely with the Integrity Initiative, as a "reservist in Specialist Group Military Intelligence and employed by KBR in Saudi Arabia".[11]

Publications

  • Joseph Walker-Cousins, 'Islamists are leading Libya to annihilation – and the west is letting them', The Guardian, 13 March 2015.[1]

Affiliations

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Guardian, Joseph Walker-Cousins, contributor profile, accessed 1 November 2026.
  2. ↑ Anonymous, list of Specialist Group Military Intelligence members posted on CyberGuerrilla, 24 January 2019, archived copy, accessed 1 November 2026.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette, Supplement 56770, 3 December 2002, p. 14655, accessed 1 November 2026.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette, Supplement 56850, 18 February 2003, p. 2055, accessed 1 November 2026.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette, Supplement 57233, 16 March 2004, p. 3342, accessed 1 November 2026.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette, Supplement 58113, 3 October 2006, p. 13445, accessed 1 November 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Formal Minutes, Session 2015–16, 17 November 2015, accessed 1 November 2026.
  8. ↑ Dan Cooper, '"Arrogant" army captain banned from driving', Newbury Today, 30 May 2015, accessed 1 November 2026.
  9. ↑ PS21, PS21 Announces 10 New Global Fellows, 17 March 2015, accessed 1 November 2026.
  10. ↑ KBR, KBR Selected by UK Ministry of Defence for Operational Support Capability Contract, 10 May 2016, archived 13 February 2019, accessed 1 November 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, Briefing note on the Integrity Initiative, 21 December 2018, updated 29 December 2018, accessed 1 November 2026.
  12. ↑ Institute for Statecraft, II xcountry elections institutions table, undated, among Integrity Initiative documents published by Anonymous, November 2018.
  13. ↑ Institute for Statecraft, CND general list, undated, among Integrity Initiative documents published by Anonymous, 2018.
  14. ↑ Institute for Statecraft, NGW seminars invitation list, undated, among Integrity Initiative documents published by Anonymous, 2018.
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