he's the former bbc africa bureau chief. he spoke to us from johannesburg.st of all, i would like to convey my deepest sympathies to george's family, friends and indeed colleagues, particularly his wife, fran, who stood by him throughout his cancer challenge. and also his two sons, adam and matty, together with their young children, george's grandchildren. we are saddened, my family and i and many other colleagues, by the news of george's passing. i spent a lot of time with george. we travelled across the continent of africa. we went to zimbabwe, swaziland and, liberia, kenya, all of those countries. when you travel together in places going through turmoil, it bonds you, and we became more than colleagues, we became friends. i was very proud when george very graciously agreed to be the godfather to my son, who was born in 2001. that brought the families together. george was at my wedding in 1998. we have a picture of him at home on our display when he was at my wife's home during ourwedding. many, many memories that we shared. we travelled to iraq together a