Glyn Berry Canadian Diplomat in Afghanistan

Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry, a political director posted with the provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan, was killed near Kandahar in an apparent suicide bombing on Sunday, January 15.

Glyn Berry joined Foreign Affairs Canada (then the Department of External Affairs) in 1977. His first assignment abroad was to the Canadian Embassy in Norway in 1978, after which he returned to Ottawa to work in the Development Assistance Division. In 1983, he was posted to the Canadian Embassy in the United States as First Secretary (Economic) and in 1987 to the Canadian Embassy in Cuba. In 1990, Mr. Berry returned to Ottawa as Deputy Director in the United States Trade and Economic Policy Division. In 1993, he was posted as Counsellor to the Canadian High Commission in London, and in 1997 he returned to Ottawa to work as the Deputy Director (OSCE) in the North American and Euro-Atlantic Security and Defence Relations Division. In 1999, Mr. Berry held the positions of Counsellor (Political) at the High Commission in Pakistan and subsequently of Minister-Counsellor to the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in 2002. Last summer, Mr. Berry was named Political Director of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.

Mr. Berry held a BA in political science from the University of Wales Swansea, an MA in political science from McMaster University, and a PhD in political science from Dalhousie University.

Glyn Berry was following his passion when he lost his life in one of the most violent regions of the world.

The longtime Canadian diplomat had volunteered for duty in Afghanistan, where he was on a mission to foster peace and stability in a country racked by poverty, strife, and all forms of hardship.

Having served with Canada's Foreign Affairs since 1977, the 59-year-old Berry left his post in August as political counsellor at the United Nations' Canadian mission for the far more dangerous assignment.

Berry was serving as political director of the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team, coordinating reconstruction projects from the violence-plagued southern region of Kandahar.

It was on a main road on Jan. 15, about a kilometre southeast of Kandahar city, where he was killed.

Travelling in a military convoy of heavily-armoured Mercedes jeeps, Berry died when a suicide bomber approached in a nearby vehicle and detonated his haul of explosives. Three Canadian soldiers were severely wounded in that blast.