Journalist Brian Crozier dies aged 94

Tributes have been paid to journalist and activist Brian Crozier who has died.

Mr Crozier, an adviser on Soviet threats during the Cold War, died on Saturday after a "long illness", his family said. He was 94.

The former Reuters correspondent made it into the record books after interviewing the most prime ministers and heads of state - a total of 64 - during his journalism career, his family added.

Described as one of the "last of the Cold War warriors", Mr Crozier formed his own international secret service in 1977 known as The 61, which would later work with Margaret Thatcher and then-US president Ronald Reagan.

Son Michael Crozier, a journalist, said his father was "an accomplished pianist, painter, poet and linguist".

He said: "During a long and successful career as a journalist and international activist, he travelled the world, putting the case against Soviet expansion beyond their borders.

"He met prime ministers and heads of state in all major countries in the world and wrote a number of successful books which several generations have read with interest.

"At times he seemed to stand alone in the public eye as a fighter against extreme left wing politics."

Born in Queensland, Australia, Crozier moved to England at the age of 12 and later received a scholarship to study piano and musical composition at the Trinity College of Music in London.

His journalism career led him to become a foreign correspondent for Reuters, columnist for The Economist, reporter for the BBC and, during a brief return to Australia, a writer for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Crozier, a father of four, also founded the Institute For The Study Of Conflict, a London-based group that studied insurgencies and terrorism.

He would later work with the British Secret Intelligence Service, the Information Research Department (IRD) of the British Foreign Office, and the CIA.

PA