03/24/06

Steven Komarow named an assistant international editor for The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Steven Komarow, a veteran correspondent with extensive reporting experience in Washington, Europe, and the Middle East, has been named an assistant international editor for The Associated Press.

Komarow, now national security correspondent for USA Today, will work with AP's bureaus around the world from the news cooperative's headquarters in New York.

The appointment was announced March 24 by Acting International Editor Laura Myers.

Komarow first joined the AP on the Metro Desk in Washington in 1979. He later was Washington Metro editor and chief congressional correspondent. He covered the presidential campaigns in 1988 and in 1992.

In 1993, Komarow moved to USA Today as a defense correspondent, covering three secretaries of defense and troops in the field. He was the first reporter to cover a cruise missile launch from inside a B-52 bomber. He accompanied the first ground troops into Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti.

In 2000, Komarow opened USA Today's Berlin bureau and wrote news and feature stories from Central and Eastern Europe. After Sept. 11, 2001, he covered the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was an embedded reporter with the Army during the invasion of Iraq.

Komarow returned to the newspaper's Washington bureau in August 2003, splitting his time between national security coverage in Washington and reporting from overseas war zones.

"Steve has broad international and domestic reporting experience covering the big stories," Myers said. "He's got mud on his boots, a strong grasp of international diplomacy and Washington politics, and his enthusiasm for news and compelling story telling makes for the best kind of journalism."

Komarow has covered Iraq's elections, the capture and trial of Saddam Hussein, reconstruction and the insurgency. He also has reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Yemen, Djibouti, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf states, and last fall's immigrant riots in France.

Komarow, born in New York, graduated with a B.A. in political science from George Washington University.

Komarow succeeds Steven R. Hurst, who transferred to Cairo.

Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1730