Difference between revisions of "Sherard Cowper-Coles"
(→Diplomatic career) |
(→Diplomatic career) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''British Ambassador in Afghanistan'''. | '''British Ambassador in Afghanistan'''. | ||
==Diplomatic career== | ==Diplomatic career== | ||
| − | Joined the Foreign Office as a desk officer in the Republic of Ireland Department in 1977.<ref>[http://cherwell.larrytech.com/index.php?news=1424 Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles]. | + | Joined the Foreign Office as a desk officer in the Republic of Ireland Department in 1977.<ref>[http://cherwell.larrytech.com/index.php?news=1424 Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles]. Cherwell24, 12 October 2007, accessed 28 March 2008.</ref> He was [[Third Secretary]] and later [[Second Secretary]] in [[Cairo]], 1980–1983, [[First Secretary]] in the Planning Staff of the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]], 1983–1985; Private Secretary to the Permanent [[Under-secretary]] of State, 1985–1987, First Secretary in Washington, 1987–1991, Assistant in the Security Policy Department of the FCO, 1991–1993, Resident Associate, [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]], 1993–1994; Head of the Hong Kong Department of the FCO, 1994–1997, Political Counsellor in Paris, 1997–1999; Principal Private Secretary to [[Robin Cook]], the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1999–2001. |
His first role as a head of mission was in Tel Aviv as the British Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2003. He was next appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, a post that he held until 2006. Since 15 May 2007 he has served as ambassador to Afghanistan in Kabul. | His first role as a head of mission was in Tel Aviv as the British Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2003. He was next appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, a post that he held until 2006. Since 15 May 2007 he has served as ambassador to Afghanistan in Kabul. | ||
Revision as of 09:18, 28 August 2008
British Ambassador in Afghanistan.
Diplomatic career
Joined the Foreign Office as a desk officer in the Republic of Ireland Department in 1977.[1] He was Third Secretary and later Second Secretary in Cairo, 1980–1983, First Secretary in the Planning Staff of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1983–1985; Private Secretary to the Permanent Under-secretary of State, 1985–1987, First Secretary in Washington, 1987–1991, Assistant in the Security Policy Department of the FCO, 1991–1993, Resident Associate, International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1993–1994; Head of the Hong Kong Department of the FCO, 1994–1997, Political Counsellor in Paris, 1997–1999; Principal Private Secretary to Robin Cook, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1999–2001.
His first role as a head of mission was in Tel Aviv as the British Ambassador to Israel from 2001 to 2003. He was next appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, a post that he held until 2006. Since 15 May 2007 he has served as ambassador to Afghanistan in Kabul.
Media management
Robert Fisk writes:
- Indeed, I remember way back in the late 1970s - when I was Middle East correspondent for The Times - how a British diplomat in Cairo tried to persuade me to fire my local "stringer", an Egyptian Coptic woman who also worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press and who provided a competent coverage of the country when I was in Beirut. "She isn't much good," he said, and suggested I hire a young Englishwoman whom he knew and who - so I later heard - had close contacts in the Foreign Office.
- I refused this spooky proposal. Indeed, I told The Times that I thought it was outrageous that a British diplomat should have tried to engineer the sacking of our part-timer in Cairo. The Times's foreign editor agreed.
- But it just shows what diplomats can get up to.
- And the name of that young British diplomat in Cairo back in the late 1970s? Why, Sherard Cowper-Coles, of course.[2]
Connections
- Michael Semple
- Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent
Notes
- ↑ Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles. Cherwell24, 12 October 2007, accessed 28 March 2008.
- ↑ 'Abu Henry' and the mysterious silence I guess that's what diplomacy is all about, persuading here, pleading there The Independent, Saturday, 30 June 2007
