Patrick Quinn named AP news director for Afghanistan and Pakistan

AP names Quinn Afghanistan-Pakistan news director

NEW YORK — Veteran correspondent Patrick Quinn, the AP’s deputy Middle East regional editor, has been appointed news director for Afghanistan and Pakistan and chief of bureau for Afghanistan based in Kabul, it was announced Thursday.

The announcement was made by Senior Managing Editor John Daniszewski, who oversees international news and photos for The Associated Press.

“Patrick Quinn will bring energy, experience and deep news judgment to a complex story that is vitally important to world audiences. The war in Afghanistan and the political developments in Pakistan have repercussions well beyond the two countries’ borders, and the AP has been on the front lines of the story continuously — even when the world’s attention had shifted to other arenas.”

Quinn, 47, who was the acting Middle East regional editor for the past year, has extensive experience covering Iraq and has also worked in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before being appointed deputy Middle East editor, he served as chief of Southeast Europe news based in Athens.

During his time at the AP’s Middle East regional hub in Cairo, Quinn oversaw news coverage of more than a dozen nations, ranging from Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf states, Israel and the Palestinian territories to Egypt, Libya and Sudan.

In addition to his recent work in the Middle East, Quinn covered the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the Balkan wars of the 1990s, the conflicts in Albania and wars in Kosovo and Macedonia.

In his new job, Quinn will report to Middle East Regional Editor Robert H. Reid.

Quinn joined the AP as a reporter in Athens in 1988 after working as a stringer. He left to work for a Greek-American newspaper in New York before returning to the AP in 1991. Quinn studied at Boston University and holds an undergraduate degree from the American College of Greece.