TORONTO, November 28, 2001 -- British High Commissioner to Canada Sir Andrew Burns will talk about the war on terrorism and British involvement in the conflict on Thursday, Nov. 29 at York University.

"The present military action is part of a wider political, diplomatic and intelligence campaign to defeat the terrorists and to dismantle the machinery that underpins and facilitates terrorism," says Sir Andrew. "This is not a fight that Britain could ever have stayed out of. It is a struggle that involves all people who believe in the same values of freedom and tolerance, respect for other people and a peaceful way of life."

Sir Andrew joined the British diplomatic service in 1965, and studied Urdu and Hindi at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London before taking up a Political Section post at the British High Commission in New Delhi in 1967. In 1982-83 he was a visiting Fellow at Harvard University Centre for International Affairs, before being appointed Counsellor (Information) at the British Embassy in Washington and Head of British Information Services in New York. He was Head of South Asian Department (1986-88), then Head of News Department (1988-90) and Press Secretary to three successive Foreign Secretaries – Sir Geoffrey Howe, John Major and Douglas Hurd. In 1992 he was appointed British Ambassador to Israel, coinciding with the second administration of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In November 1997 he was appointed the first British Consul-General to the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, following the transfer of sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China.

Sir Andrew will speak on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Room 305 York Lanes, at York University, Keele campus, 4700 Keele St. His visit is sponsored by The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York, and the York/UofT Institute for European Studies, as part of their European diplomatic lecture series.

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For more information, please contact:

Anita Szucsko, Program Assistant	Susan Bigelow
The Canadian Centre for German  and European Studies	Media Relations
York University	York University
416-736-5695	416-736-2100, ext. 22091
ccges@yorku.ca	sbigelow@yorku.ca

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