Keep the Flag Flying by Sir Alan Munro

Sir Alan Munro KCMG joined the Diplomatic Service in 1958 after military service in the Army, and Cambridge University where he studied history. He went to Lebanon to learn Arabic, and subsequently worked in Lebanon, Kuwait, Libya, and Brazil as well as in the Foreign Office. He had spells in the Ministry of Defence looking after military cooperation with Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, before going to Algeria as ambassador in 1974. He was subsequently Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa and was British ambassador in Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1993, a period which coincided with the First Gulf War.