Allan Little

Allan Little is the BBC's World Affairs correspondent, his career with BBC News has seen him report on many of the major stories of the last decade, from the Gulf War to economic meltdown in Russia.

As Moscow correspondent, Allan has reported extensively on the political and economic upheaval of the Yeltsin regime and major events such as the devastating earthquakes in Afghanistan in 1995.

Watch Alan Little's introductory message and hear his experience of the invasion of Kuwait

In early 1999 he returned to the UK for a period to work on current affairs projects and to present the Radio 4 Today programme.

His BBC career began in 1983 when he joined BBC Scotland as a TV researcher for News and Current Affairs. He then transferred to London in 1985 to train as a radio reporter.

Allan spent two years with BBC Radio Solent before moving to the Today Programme, specialising in foreign reporting, including the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

Allan went on to report from Baghdad for BBC Radio during the 1991 Gulf War, and also reported from Kuwait on the Shiite rebellions immediately afterwards.

Click here to watch Alan Little's news report from 22 November 1998 as Iraq stepped up its challenge to UN weapons inspectors

Later the same year he was despatched to Yugoslavia, where he was to spend the next four years reporting on conflict throughout the region. He co-authored The Death of Yugoslavia - a critically-acclaimed chronicle of the bloody break-up of the country which accompanied the award-winning BBC series.

In 1995, Allan moved to Johannesburg to begin a three-year stint as South Africa correspondent, during which time he reported on the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda and the overthrow of President Mobutu in Zaire.

He was appointed Moscow correspondent in December 1997 but returned to South Africa for a fourth year in 2000.

Born on 11 October 1959, Allan is a graduate of Edinburgh University where he read History and Politics.