Jonathan Evans (spymaster)
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Jonathan Evans (born c. 1958) is the Deputy Director-General of MI5, the UK's domestic security and counter-intelligence service. On 21 April 2007 he will take over the role of the Director-General of the service, replacing Eliza Manningham-Buller.[1]
Evans attended the University of Bristol, where he read classical studies.[2] He joined the service in 1980, and initially worked in counter espionage.[2] In 1985 he moved to the protective security function (safeguarding MI5's own personnel and the service's secrets) before switching to domestic counter-terrorism in the late 1980s. [2] For more than a decade he was involved with the effort to combat the domestic threat of groups such as the Provisional IRA during The Troubles. In 1999, with that risk greatly abated, Evans moved to G-Branch, [3] the section of MI5 which deals with international terrorism. There he became an expert on Al-Qaeda[4] and other branches of militant Islam. He rose to head the section in 2001 (only a few days before the September 11, 2001 attacks), a position which put him on the service's board of management.
He became Deputy Director-General of MI5 in 2005.
[edit] See also
- MI6, the overseas counterpart to MI5
- Joint Intelligence Committee, to which MI5 reports
[edit] References
- ^ "MI5 deputy to take over as head", BBC News, 2007-03-07. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c Gordon Corera. "From the Cold War to al-Qaeda", BBC News, 2007-03-07. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
- ^ "New MI5 boss is top expert on Al-Qaeda", The Sunday Times, 2006-12-17. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
- ^ "MI5 told MPs on eve of 7/7: no imminent terror threat", The Guardian, 2007-01-09. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
