Anwar Choudhury

Anwar Choudhury ( _bn. আনোয়ার চৌধুরী) (born 1959) is a British diplomat. He was a High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and was the first British Head of Mission to be of Bengali origin. Although born in Sylhet, in north-eastern Bangladesh, he is a naturalised British citizen; Choudhury has dismissed suggestions of a conflict of loyalty, stating that he would support the English cricket team against Bangladesh (see: "Cricket test"). [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F12%2F15%2Fndhaka15.xml "Bangladeshi-born Briton for Dhaka"] . Amit Roy, "The Daily Telegraph", 15 December 2003. Accessed 22 June 2006.]

Biography

Choudhury's family moved from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom when he was young. He followed an unusual route to the Diplomatic Service; he attained a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Salford in 1985. Choudhury worked at Siemens Plessey, before entering the civil service as an engineering strategist with the RAF. He graduated with an MBA from Durham University in 1995. [ [http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/EthnicMinoritiesinBritain%5B2%5D,0.pdf "Ethnic Minorities in Britain"] . Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Accessed 22 June 2006.] He was promoted through the Ministry of Defence, until 2000, when he was recruited by the Cabinet Office, before being headhunted for the position as High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

On 21 May 2004, he was targeted in a failed grenade attack, in which he was wounded and two bystanders were killed. The attempted assassination came as he was leaving Friday prayers. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3735103.stm "UK envoy hurt in Bangladesh blast"] . "BBC", 21 May 2004. Accessed 22 June 2006.]

References