MUMBAI: Justin Webb has been appointed to the new post of BBC News US editor. Webb has been the North America correspondent since 2001 and takes up his new role in December 2007.

He said, "The 2008 presidential election is a key moment in the history of the United States, a moment of potentially huge change, and I am delighted to have the chance to lead the BBC's coverage. We all know that what happens in Washington really does matter, it can change lives for better or for worse right across the globe. For a reporter there is no better posting, and on the eve of the 2008 election, no better time to be here."

Webb was appointed as the BBC's chief radio and Washington correspondent in 2001. Prior to this, he spent three years working as the BBC's Europe correspondent based in Brussels.

He joined the BBC as a graduate trainee in 1984 working in Northern Ireland for BBC Radio Ulster, based in Belfast.