British Ambassador John Hawkins has congratulated an Al Jazeera journalist for his excellent performance in a British Embassy-sponsored UK training placement, managed by the Thomson Foundation in partnership with Channel Four News.

Yousuf Al Shrouf, who works in the Al Jazeera Newsroom and was nominated by the network to take part in the Embassy scheme, spent August on an intensive course in advanced journalistic skills run by the Thomson Foundation. He then worked alongside famed news anchor Jon Snow, as part of the ITN news team producing the prestigious Channel 4 evening news bulletin for the month of September.

Receiving Yousuf at the Embassy on his return to Doha, Ambassador Hawkins said: "I was delighted to hear about Yousuf's success in London, and we look forward to further cooperation between Al Jazeera and the British Embassy."

Will Thorne, Assistant Editor of Channel Four News, said: "it was a real pleasure to have Yousuf on the Channel Four News team in September. He played a key role in getting our news team into Libya to cover the  return of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi which resulted in a world exclusive interview with Mr al Megrahi with his family. Yousuf made many friends during his short stay with the programme and we're keen to continue that link and hope that C4 News and Al Jazeera may find ways to co-operate in the future".

Yousuf himself welcomed the experience: "I'm glad to have participated in this programme.  I had the opportunity to dialogue and interact with colleagues from the UK on a range of journalistic and professional issues.  I look forward to continuing these relationships and furthering the development of Al Jazeera's relations with global media organisations."

Tim Rogers, Head of Training at the Thomson Foundation, who organised the course and placement with Channel 4, praised the initiative: "The aim of our course was to give foreign journalists an opportunity to broaden their experience with formal training - which we provided in London - followed by practical work in one of the the leading TV news organisations in the UK. Channel Four news is renowned as an award winning producer of challenging and thought provoking news and the experience they offered Yousuf was extremely valuable and welcome "

This is the second summer in a row that the British Embassy and the Thomson Foundation have partnered with Al-Jazeera to provide training for news journalists in the UK.

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