BBC Middle East correspondent Orla Guerin has reported from the BBC's hub bureau in the Middle East since December 2000.
Based in Jerusalem, she was officially appointed as a BBC Middle East correspondent in January 2001.
Orla joined the BBC as news correspondent in 1995 and in January 1996 was posted to the West Coast of America (based in Los Angeles) where she handled a variety of stories including the Oscars.
She was BBC's Southern Europe correspondent - based in Rome - from July 1996 to June 2000. During this period she reported regularly on the Kosovo conflict.
In 1999 she was expelled from the regional capital Pristina by Serb forces at the outset of the fighting. She reported from Macedonia on the plight of the refugees fleeing the border. Upon re-entering Kosovo - as Nato forces took control - she covered the eventual return of thousands of refugees who had been forced from their homes.
Orla also reported extensively on the conflict in the Basque country in Northern Spain. She broke the story of the cease-fire by the Basque separatist group ETA in October 1998, which was a world exclusive. Her documentary on ETA for BBC Two's Correspondent programme was nominated for a Bafta award.
Between June and November 2000, she reported from Moscow on stories including the Kursk submarine disaster and bomb attacks in the Russian capital.
Prior to joining the BBC, Orla worked as a newscaster, presenter and foreign correspondent for Ireland's RTE News. For her work with RTE, Orla won the premier accolade for broadcasters in Ireland, the Jacobs Award.
While with RTE she travelled widely, covering Eastern and Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, and, the siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.
She qualified as a journalist in 1985 with a Certificate in Journalism from the College of Commerce in Dublin. She also holds a Masters Degree in Film Studies from University College Dublin.
In 2002 Orla was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex and won the Broadcaster of the Year Award from the London Press Club. In 2003, she was awarded the News and Factual Award by Women in Film and Television UK.
She was born in May 1966.
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