AFP appoints new bureau chiefs

St phane Barbier appointed Libreville bureau chief

St phane Barbier, 58, began his career at the Lyon bureau before working in London then Brussels. He spent most of his time on foreign assignments in Africa, successively appointed as bureau chief in Harare in 2001, Johannesburg bureau in 2006 and Dakar in 2010, with a stint in the Europe/Africa chief editor's department. Since 2015 he has been Tehran bureau chief.

Anuj Chopra appointed Riyadh bureau chief

Anuj Chopra, 34, was hired by AFP in Hong Kong in July 2011. Prior to joining the Agency, Anuj worked as a Mumbai-based freelancer, carrying out assignments across South Asia for Time, Newsweek and The Economist. In March 2015 he took over as bureau chief in Kabul, a challenging post given the rapidly deteriorating security situation. His series on the institutionalized sexual abuse of boys by Afghan forces won numerous press prizes, including the prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award.

Allison Jackson appointed Kabul bureau chief

Allison Jackson, 39, joined AFP in 2009 as economics correspondent in China. An Australian national with strong Mandarin language skills, Allison spent nearly three years in the Beijing bureau. Following her posting in Beijing, Allison left the Agency in 2012 to spend time in Mexico. She rejoined AFP in October 2016 as an editor on the regional news desk in Hong Kong.

Marc Jourdier appointed Tehran bureau chief

Marc Jourdier, 45, began at the Africa desk of AFP then moved to the economic department before his first foreign posting in 2001 on the French desk in Nicosia where he stayed five years. He then moved to Washington where he covered the financial crisis of 2008. In September 2013, he changed continent to become Kinshasa bureau chief to cover the second largest country in Africa.

Jean-Marc Mojon appointed Beirut bureau chief

Jean-Marc Mojon, 40, began his AFP career in 2000 in Nicosia. He was transferred to Jerusalem in 2002 and then became deputy director in Cairo (2004) and in Nairobi (2007). After three years spent at the English desk in Paris (2011-2014), he became bureau chief in Baghdad, which he now leaves for Beirut.

Jean-Louis Pany appointed Bordeaux bureau chief

Jean-Louis Pany, born in 1958, joined AFP in 1983 on the international desk and then covered the French National Assembly at the political service. He alternated between the political service and the international and French desks before spending three years covering industrial news in the economics service. Until 1987, he alternated between the politics department and the desks (Inter and France). He subsequently worked in New York (1990-1993), London (1993-1997) and Montreal (2001-2005, as bureau chief). He also served as head of shift on the international desk (1998-1999) and head of reporting in the economics service (1999-2001). He worked on judicial affairs coverage in the general reporting service (2005-2009), was deputy to the Europe/Africa director (2009-2011) and society service chief (2011-2014).

Sophie Pons appointed Rabat bureau chief

Sophie Pons, 53, joined the Bordeaux bureau in 1988 before moving to Moscow in 1991 for three years, at the time of the putsch against Gorbachev, the end of the communist party and the break-up of the Soviet Union. After a stint in Marseille, she was posted to South Africa in 1995 during the post-apartheid transition led by Nelson Mandela. In 2001, she came back to Bordeaux as new editor then took over as Prague bureau chief in 2005. She was Rennes bureau chief from 2009 to 2012 and then served in the journalism careers development department in Paris. She has been head of the Paris reporting bureau since September 2016.

Samir Tounsi appointed Kinshasa bureau chief

Samir Tounsi, 48, began at AFP in the Madrid bureau in 1997 before joining the sports desk in Paris in 2000. He then worked at the social affairs service in Reims, and moved to the political service in 2007 where he covered the French National Assembly and the 2012 presidential election. After a stint at the Paris reporting bureau, he worked at AFPTV for one year followed by the economic service, the African desk and the web and mobile service. He was named special correspondent in Libreville in 2016.

Pascale Trouillaud appointed Rio bureau Chief

Pascale Trouillaud, 60, began her career at AFP in 1983. She worked as an economic journalist in London (1987-1989), deputy in Beijing, then bureau chief in Hanoi (1995-1999), Bangkok (2001-2005) and Beijing (2008-2012), during which time she received the French L gion d'honneur. Between each of her foreign postings she held various positions on the Parisian desks (Africa, International, Europe/Africa ).

Tim Witcher appointed New Delhi bureau chief

Tim Witcher, born in Southampton, England, in 1960, joined the English desk in Paris in 1985 and began an Asian career as deputy Hong Kong desk chief (1994-1999) then Seoul bureau chief (2000-2002). In 2002, he became head of the Washington desk (2002-2006) then of the English desk in Paris (2007-2010). In 2010, he was appointed as journalist at the United Nations (2010-2014). Before being appointed New Delhi bureau chief, he was joint editor of the sports department.

About AFP:

AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,300 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.

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