Dominic Asquith

Dominic Asquith was Director Iraq in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2004 to 2006 and subsequently served as the British Ambassador in Baghdad.

More recently Asquith was Ambassador to Libya. He retired from the Crown Service in March 2013.

Post civil service career

In June 2013 Asquith took up a part time, paid appointment as senior consultant with Tatweer Research, a Libyan research and development company, specialising in technology and engineering.

When considering his application for this role, ACOBA noted:

that the appointment was likely to include contact with Sir Dominic’s Department/Government and that Sir Dominic had had official contact with the Chief Executive of Tatweer Research, although not with the company itself. The Committee also noted that Sir Dominic had not had contractual dealings with his prospective employer, had not had access to commercially sensitive information about competitors, and had not been involved in the development or administration of policy that could affect Tatweer Research or its competitors.

The Foreign Secretary accepted the Committee’s recommendation that, the six month moratorium for Ambassadors having expired, the application should be approved subject to the conditions that:

- Sir Dominic should not draw on privileged information available to him as a Crown servant; and

- for two years from his last day of service, Sir Dominic should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of his new employer or its clients.