John Sawers

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Sir John Sawers was named as the new chief of MI6 on 16 June 2009. He is due to replace Sir John Scarlett in November 2009.[1]

Background

Sawers was born in Warwick, and educated at the City of Bath boys' school.[2]

He studied physics and philosophy at the University of Nottingham and later studied at the universities of St Andrews, Witwatersrand and Harvard.[3]

MI6 career

Richard Norton-Taylor notes that "It is highly unusual for a diplomat, or any outsider, to be appointed as the head – or C for chief, as he is still officially called – of MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service."[4]

However, the BBC states that "As Downing Street coyly noted, Sir John is "rejoining" the SIS - no details were given about his previous career in MI6."[5]

The Telegraph states that "Although he trained with MI6 at the beginning of his career, he has spent the time since as a career diplomat".[6] This might lead one to speculate that Sawers may have spent part of his career as an MI6 officer under diplomatic cover. Michael Evans' account suggests this may have been the case with his first two overseas postings:

He began his career with MI6 in 1977, serving in Yemen and Syria. He then switched to the Diplomatic Service in the 1980s, following a more conventional path as a British envoy, and was appointed political director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2003.[7]

Diplomatic career

According to an official FCO biography Sawer spent his early career working "in Yemen and Syria, and was in South Africa from 1988-91 during the first part of the transition from Apartheid. Between spells overseas, he worked in London, mainly on EU business."[8]

For two and a half years, he served as Principal Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd. According to the Foreign Office, "The period was dominated by war in Bosnia, crises in the Middle East, and the debate in Britain on the European Union."[9]

Sawers spent the period from 1995 to 1998 in the United States. After a year as an International Fellow at Harvard University he joined the British Embassy in Washington where he headed the Embassy team dealing with foreign and defence policy issues.[10]

Foreign Affairs Advisor

Sawers was foreign affairs advisor to Tony Blair from January 1999 to summer 2001, a period that included the Kosovo War. He was involved in negotiations on Northern Ireland and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.[11][12]

Egypt Ambassador

Sawers next post was as Ambassador to Cairo from 2001 to 2003.[13]

Iraq envoy

Sawers served as a special envoy in Baghdad for three months after the invasion of Iraq. According to The Telegraph, he argued against the policy of dismissing members of the Ba'ath Party.[14]

Foreign Office Political Director

Sawers served as Foreign Office Political Director for four years at the height of the Iraq conflict[15] from August 2003 to August 2007.[16]

The Foreign Office described his role as follows:

In this post he advised the Foreign Secretary on political and security issues worldwide, and negotiated on behalf of the Foreign Secretary with international partners in the G8, EU and the UN. He was particularly closely involved in policy on Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.[17]

UN representative

Sawers became the UK's permanent representative to the UN in New York in August 2007.[18]

The BBC describes his role in the post as follows:

as an ambassador of one of the permanent five, Sir John has played a central role in the key resolutions negotiated here over the past two years - on Iran, North Korea and the Middle East.
On Sri Lanka and Burma, he has been pushing the UN to play an active role.
An Iran specialist and scientist, his press briefings on the status of Iran's nuclear programme have been known to resemble seminars on nuclear physics.[19]

Views

According to Richard Norton Taylor, "Sawers is known to adopt a hard line on Iran and be sceptical about any suggestions that it does not want to build nuclear weapons."[20]

Affiliations

Notes

  1. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
  2. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
  3. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
  4. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
  5. ↑ Laura Trevelyan, New MI6 boss is 'excellent dancer', BBC News, 16 June 2009.
  6. ↑ Duncan Gardham, Career civil servant the new chief of MI6, telegraph.co.uk, 17 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Michael Evans, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6511372.ece Outsider Sir John Sawers appointed new head of MI6], Times Online, 16 June 2009.
  8. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  9. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  10. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  11. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  12. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
  13. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  14. ↑ Duncan Gardham, Career civil servant the new chief of MI6, telegraph.co.uk, 17 June 2009.
  15. ↑ Duncan Gardham, Career civil servant the new chief of MI6, telegraph.co.uk, 17 June 2009.
  16. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  17. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  18. ↑ Permanent Representative, UK Mission the UN, New York, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, accessed 17 June 2009.
  19. ↑ Laura Trevelyan, New MI6 boss is 'excellent dancer', BBC News, 16 June 2009.
  20. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Sir John Sawers named as new chief of MI6, guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2009.
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