Peter Ford (diplomat)

Peter Ford (born 27 June 1947) is a retired British diplomat who was ambassador to Bahrain from 1999–2003 and to Syria from 2003–2006. Since 2010 he has become known to a wider public for his critical stance towards British policy towards Syria.

Ford was educated at Weston Point Community Primary School, Helsby Grammar School and The Queen's College, Oxford.

Having finished his Arabic studies he worked in Beirut, Riyadh, Paris and Cairo before being appointed British ambassador to Bahrain as well as Syria from 2003-06.

Retiring from the Diplomatic Service in 2006 he became Representative of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA in the Arab world.

In 2003, as ambassador to Bahrain, Ford says he sent critical memos to London before the Iraq War. Later he regretted not to have been more outspoken. In his time in Damascus (2003-2006), he says he distanced himself more and more from the official policies.

After 2006, he has been criticised as a defender of the Assad regime in Syria. In 2016, he suggested opposition forces were responsible for an attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in September 2016 which led to the deaths of 10 humanitarians. A UN panel of inquiry said the attack was conducted from the air, and only Syrian and Russian air forces were operating in the area. The UN panel stated "that it did not have evidence to conclude that the incident was a deliberate attack on a humanitarian target".

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