Veteran BBC Africa correspondent Mark Doyle dies aged 67

Veteran BBC Africa correspondent Mark Doyle dies aged 67 (Picture: BBC) Mark Doyle, a veteran BBC news reporter, has died aged 67 after a short illness. He was best known for coverage of conflicts in Africa during the 90s and 00s, having joined the broadcaster in 1986. The BBC foreign editor, Paul Danahar, called him a ‘legendary figure’ and a ‘brilliant, brave, empathetic reporter’. Doyle had worked as the East Africa correspondent starting in 1993, covering the Rwandan genocide the following year. He then moved to be the West Africa correspondent from 1997 to 2002, covering Sierra Leone’s civil war and the Liberia conflict aftermath. In 2004, Doyle won first prize in the UN Correspondents Association/UN Foundation Awards for his coverage of post-war Liberia. Later, the journalist became known as the BBC’s World Affairs correspondent before he retired in 2015. At the time of his retirement, his colleague  Fergal Keane praised his coverage of Rwanda, saying ‘he stayed longer than any of us’. ‘Those who were in that awful place at that awful time will know what Mark Doyle gave for the cause of truth and for the BBC.’ In the same article, Sir David Richards, who led British forces in attempts to stop the Sierra Leone conflict, claimed he saved ‘thousands of Sierra Leonean lives that would otherwise have been at huge risk’. After Doyle’s death, BBC News presenter Mark Lowen remembered him as ‘extraordinary’ on social media. ‘I produced Mark in Rwanda & Congo as a 24-year-old BBC newbie, on the Congo war and illegal mining,’ he said. ‘In 1994, the world depended on his reports on Rwanda genocide. He was fearless, astute and kind.’ Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source

Doyle was best known for reporting on African conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s, notably in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.