David Alan Jones (born 26 October 1953) is a retired British diplomat who was High Commissioner to Sierra Leone during the

British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by B ...

Career

Jones joined the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...

in 1970 before transferring to the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) the following year. His first overseas posting was to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

in 1975. After three years in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, he was posted to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, in 1978. After a further three years, he was seconded to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD) for two years. In 1986, he was promoted to First Secretary (Commercial) in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, where he served until 1989. In 1993, he was promoted to

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

and deputy head of mission in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. In 1996, after three years in Angola, Jones was posted to

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, where he served as deputy high commissioner.''Who's Who'' After four years in Dar es Salaam, Jones was appointed High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, succeeding

Peter Penfold Peter Alfred Penfold (born 27 February 1944) is a British retired diplomat. His career began in 1963, when he joined the Foreign Service as a clerical officer. Two years into his career, he was posted to the British embassy in Bonn, West Ger ...

in early May 2000. In a double hatted appointment, he served concurrently as non-resident Ambassador to Guinea. On 6 May 2000—less than a week into Jones' term in Sierra LeoneWilliams, pp. 153–154.—rebel fighters belonging to the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

(RUF) blocked the road connecting the capital,

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, to the country's main airport,

Lungi The lungi is a type of sarong that originated in the Indian Subcontinent. The Lungi, which usually multicoloured, is a men's skirt usually tied around the lower waist below the navel. it can be worn as casual wear and night wear, in places an ...

. The following day, British forces deployed to the country in preparation for an evacuation of foreign citizens. Jones—who had been delegated political authority over the operation—ordered the commencement of the evacuation the next day (8 May), and it began almost immediately. British forces then went on to conduct a large-scale intervention, aimed at ending the civil war and assisting the United Nations peacekeeping force in the country. Nine days into their deployment (17 May), British forces were involved in what became their only direct engagement with the RUF, the Lungi Lol confrontation, in which the rebels engaged British soldiers who were securing the airport.Dorman, p. 94. Later in Jones' term, in September 2000, a group of 11 British soldiers were taken prisoner by a militia group. Five soldiers were eventually released through negotiation, but—as concerns for the remaining six mounted—Jones was granted political authority to order a rescue operation in an emergency. The soldiers were later freed in

Operation Barras Operation Barras was a British Army operation that took place in Sierra Leone on 10 September 2000, during the late stages of Sierra Leone Civil War, the nation's civil war. The operation aimed to release five British soldiers of the Royal Ir ...

, an assault spearheaded by British special forces.Fowler, 2010, p. 55. Jones continued to serve in both posts until 2003, and in 2004 was appointed High Commissioner to Belize, succeeding

Philip Priestley Philip John Priestley CBE FRSA (29 August 1946 – 24 September 2022) was a British diplomat. He was educated at Boston Grammar School and at the University of East Anglia (BA). He served as British Ambassador to Gabon from 1990–1991, and a ...

References

;General * * * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Alan Living people 1953 births High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Belize High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Sierra Leone People of the Sierra Leone Civil War British expatriates in Pakistan Civil servants in the Lord Chancellor's Department Members of HM Diplomatic Service