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New anchor to moor HARDtalk
Stephen Sackur, the new presenter of BBC's HARDtalk programme.
BBC World's daily current affairs interview programme HARDtalk will soon be seeing some action on the main seat. The change comes after Tim Sebastian, presenter of HARDtalk since March 1997, announced last September that he would be stepping down to concentrate on other projects for BBC World.
Stephen Sackur has been appointed the new regular presenter of the programme. He is currently based in Brussels as the BBC's Europe Correspondent, but will move to BBC World's headquarters in London to take up his new full-time role beginning April 18.
Stating that Stephen has the right perspective and experience for a job like this one, BBC representatives claim that he comes in with "solid" work experience. Stephen, who has been with the BBC since 1990, has also worked as the company's Middle East Correspondent, having been located in Egypt and Israel.
He has also covered hot issues including the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and the emergence of the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.
This was followed by five years in the United States as Washington Correspondent, during which time Stephen interviewed Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and reported extensively on such major stories as the Presidential election of 2000, and the Lewinsky scandal that hit Bill Clinton in his second term and led to his impeachment trial.
Speaking about the change of scenes, Stephen says: "This is a huge challenge for me. I've spent the past 15 years as a foreign correspondent representing the BBC abroad and am very much aware of the massive pulling power of HARDtalk. I have met many world leaders, all of whom respect HARDtalk, and I can think of no bigger programme with which to be involved. I have had pretty much the best job in the BBC as a foreign correspondent, and the only way of topping it is through HARDtalk, putting tough questions to the people who shape our world.''
HARDtalk, broadcast on BBC World daily from Monday to Thursday, has truly gained an international reputation for interviewing global leaders, political figures, military, campaigners and representatives of the world's leading organisations.
By Bindu Shajan Perappadan
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