UN diplomat is new chief of UK's MI6 spy agency

By DAVID STRINGER Associated Press Writer Jun 16th, 2009 | LONDON -- Britain's international spy agency has a new chief -- a top U.N. diplomat who had a senior role in talks about Iran's disputed nuclear program. John Sawers will take up his new post in November, the prime minister's office said in a statement Tuesday. He replaces John Scarlett, whose career has been dogged by concerns over the intelligence used to build the case for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Scarlett is retiring after five years. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office said in a statement that Sawers, 53, was rejoining MI6 -- but declined to give details of his previous appointment with the intelligence agency, formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service or SIS. MI6 only began publicly naming its chief in the 1990s. Until 1992,... [read full story]                    

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