Ian Birrell is a columnist and foreign correspondent. He was deputy editor-in-chief of the Independent until 2010, and is now contributing editor of the Mail on Sunday, and writes columns regularly for several other papers.
Over the last few years he has reported from countries around the world, including Egypt, Gabon, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
With Damon Albarn, he co-founded Africa Express, which promotes African music and brings together musicians from around the world. Most recently it producedMaison des Jeunes, an album of new Malian music.