Who is Christiane Amanpour?

Christiane Amanpour is CNN’s chief international anchor

Christiane Amanpour is CNN’s chief international anchor of the network’s award-winning, flagship global affairs programme “Amanpour,” which also airs on PBS in the United States. She is based in the network’s London bureau.

Beginning in 1983 as an entry-level assistant on the international assignment desk at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, Amanpour rose through the organisation becoming a reporter at the New York bureau, and later, the network’s leading international correspondent.

Amanpour’s fearless and uncompromising approach made her popular with audiences, and a force to be reckoned with by global influencers — in 1996, Newsweek said that her reporting from conflict hotspots in the Gulf and the Balkans had helped make CNN ‘must-see TV for world leaders’.

From the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 American-led invasion, Amanpour has documented the bloody violence which has marked Iraq’s recent history. In 2004, she also reported exclusively from the courtroom at the trial of Saddam Hussein, where the former dictator, dishevelled and in chains, was eventually sentenced to death.

On the ground during the siege of Sarajevo, Amanpour exposed the brutality of the Bosnian War, reporting on the daily tragedy of life for civilians in the city. She was outspoken, calling out the human rights abuses, massacres and genocide committed against the Bosnian Muslims.

In 2009 “Amanpour” was launched, and the primetime interview programme has seen Amanpour speak to a raft of leaders and decision makers on the issues affecting the world today.

Throughout her time at CNN, Amanpour has secured exclusive interviews with global power players

In the wake of the September 11 attacks she was the first international correspondent to interview British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. She has also reported from the aftermath of many humanitarian crises.

In addition to her work as an anchor and reporter, Amanpour is an active rights campaigner and has used her profile to raise awareness of key global issues and journalists’ rights. Amanpour has earned every major television journalism award.