Jordon leaves BBC news for Al Jazeera

BBC News presenter Darren Jordon has decided to leave the corporation after eight years to join the soon-to-be-launched Al Jazeera International.

Jordon joined BBC Sport as a broadcast journalist in 1998 following a three-year stint as a sports broadcaster in South Africa. He made the move to television news in 1999 when he became a presenter on BBC News 24.

Jordon said: "I've had a wonderful time at the BBC; I've learnt an awful lot and worked with some exceptionally talented individuals. The move, however, comes at the right time for me and I look forward to the fresh challenges that it will, no doubt, present."

Jordon also presented BBC Breakfast at weekends, moving on to become the regular presenter of all the weekend new bulletins on BBC One, as well as presenting BBC's Six O'Clock and Ten O'Clock news bulletins.

Peter Horrocks, head of TV news at the BBC, said: "I'm sorry to see Darren go. He is an extremely accomplished news presenter – always straightforward in his reporting, and rigorous but fair in his questioning. We wish him all the best for the future."

An accomplished parachutist, Jordon attended the West Indies and at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. He also spent eight years in the Jamaican army, before retiring his commission as a Captain in 1986.