Bowen has been with the BBC for 21 years

Jeremy Bowen will be the first Middle East editor of the BBC.

The post will provide all of the BBC news outlets with extra commentary, focus and analysis of the region.

Bowen, 45, has considerable experience of the area, having spent five years in Jerusalem as the BBC's Middle East correspondent from 1995 to 2000.

He is also the author of Six Days, a book on the 1967 Arab Israeli six day war, and has won an RTS award for his coverage of the assassination of the Israeli prime minister Rabin.

Although he will be based at the world affairs unit in London, he will travel "extensively" throughout the region.

Bowen said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge of providing analysis and comment on this complex part of the world, and to help bring about a deeper understanding of events to BBC audiences."

Bowen, who has been with the BBC for 21 years, will take up the role in September after finishing his posting in Rome, where he covered the death and funeral of Pope John Paul II.