Phil Chetwynd was named global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP) Wednesday, the first non-French person to hold the key post. British-born Chetwynd's appointment comes as AFP - one of the world's big three news agencies - is undergoing a major reform plan. The 49-year-old, who has been the Paris-based agency's global editor-in-chief since 2012, replaces Michele Leridon, the first woman to hold the post, who stepped down on Tuesday after four years.

Chetwynd joined AFP in 1996, starting out on the agency's Middle East desk in Nicosia, and reported from some 20 countries including Afghanistan, North Korea, Israel and the United States in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

He spent more than a decade in Asia, first as deputy bureau chief in Beijing before moving on to AFP's Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, where he headed coverage of the region.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019