Woman who will head MI5 seen as safe choice

A former teacher and expert on Irish counter-terrorism was named yesterday as the second woman to head the UK's security intelligence agency, MI5.

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, confirmed the appointment of Eliza Manningham-Buller, 53, the daughter of a former Conservative lord chancellor, to the £150,000-a-year job when Sir Stephen Lander retires in October.

Her promotion from deputy director general is seen as a safe appointment that will disappoint those outside MI5 looking for a more radical choice.

Mrs Manningham-Buller has worked on Soviet espionage in Britain and the investigation into the Lockerbie atrocity.

She was a senior liaison officer to the US intelligence community in Washington during the Gulf War.

Dame Stella Rimington, caused a rift when she published an autobiography after her retirement as MI5's first woman head.