Kim Howells
 Kim Howells    (diplomat, politician) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 27 November 1946 Merthyr Tydfil, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Middlesex University, University of Warwick, Anglia Ruskin University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Eirlys Davies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Labour | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kim Howells was the former Middle East junior Foreign Minister in Tony Blair's cabinet and a former chair of the Labour Friends of Israel. Howells is also a former Culture Secretary (2003).
On the Middle East Howells is one of the most quoted politicians in the UK government.
Defending Israel
According to the Guardian, he "shocked UK diplomats" when he told the Jerusalem Post that 'rocket and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip were a "measured" and "proportionate" response to Palestinian mortar attacks on Israel'. This at a time when 'British diplomats were lodging complaints over dozens of attacks on Gaza that destroyed schools and homes and the use of sonic booms to intimidate Palestinian civilians'.
Career
- July 2007: Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom[1]
- 2003 - June 2007: Junior Foreign Office Minister, looking after Africa, Asia and the UN. (replaced by Mark Malloch Brown).
- 2005 - Present: Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Present: Minister for the Middle East
Affiliations
- Labour Friends of Israel – former chairman
References
- Stuart Jeffries, 'I am not a fuddy duddy', The Guardian, 17 January 2003.
- Chris McGreal, Foreign Office 'unrelentingly pro-Palestinian' says Israel, The Guardian, 26 November 2005.
- ↑ Darfur, Somalia high on Security Council agenda as members hold historic summit on peace, security in Africa, ReliefWeb, 25 Sep 2007 (Accessed: 27 September 2007)
