Spiegel joins FT from WSJ

The Financial Times announced Thursday the appointment of Peter Spiegel as its Brussels bureau chief.

Spiegel will return to the Financial Times in August after just over a year at the Wall Street Journal, covering foreign policy and national security issues from its Washington bureau, and three years as Pentagon correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Spiegel left the Financial Times in March 2006 after a six-year stint covering military affairs and the defence industry.  He worked from both the paper’s London headquarters and its Washington bureau, and has traveled extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan covering the ongoing conflicts.

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, said in a statement: “I am delighted that Peter is returning to head up the FT’s Brussels bureau.  His appointment comes at a very important time during the eurozone crisis, and he will be instrumental in telling the next part of the story.”

Spiegel will report to deputy and European editor Martin Dickson when he takes up the post in August. He replaces Tony Barber who is returning to London in the autumn, initially to work on a special editorial project. Barber has led the four-person Brussels bureau since September 2007.