London: British Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed Conservative Philip Hammond as his new defence secretary, Sky News said on Friday, filling a gap left by the resignation of Liam Fox.
Hammond, regarded as a safe pair of hands who had held the Transport Ministry briefly, will oversee Britain`s military operations in Afghanistan and Libya as well as sweeping, cost-cutting reforms to the military.
Fox resigned on Friday following a scandal over his close ties to a businessman who posed as his unofficial adviser, dealing a blow to Cameron`s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
Bureau Report