RIYADH, 7 September 2003 — Sherard Cowper-Coles, 48, a former Ambassador to Israel, has been appointed British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
He replaces Sir Derek Plumbly, who moved to Cairo following the completion of his three-year tenure.
The new incumbent will take charge either by the end of this month or in the first week of October, a spokesman at the British Embassy told Arab News.
Cowper-Coles, who is an Arabist, brings with him a wealth of experience in the Middle East, where his last posting was in Tel Aviv as British Ambassador to Israel from 2001.
His previous diplomatic assignments were in Cairo, Washington and other international capitals in the Middle and Far East. The ambassador-designate served in the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London in 1993.
The spokesman said his new diplomatic assignment comes at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East and growing security threats that led, among other things, to the suspension of British Airways flights to Saudi Arabia for almost three weeks. The operations resumed yesterday.
