Britain names new Iraq ambassador

LONDON - William Patey has been appointed as Britain's new ambassador to Iraq, the Foreign Office in London announced Wednesday.
Patey will succeed Edward Chaplin, who will be transferring to another diplomatic service post, later this month, it said in a statement.
Patey, 51, is Britain's ambassador to Sudan and a former head of the Foreign Office's Middle Eastern department.
Britain has some 8,500 troops in southern Iraq, more than two years after the US and British invasion of Iraq that led to the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

06/08/2005 13:30 GMT