Kingston left Bristol University with a degree in economic history, which he put to good use in his some 17 years of work as a chartered financial analyst, equity analyst and director of the capital firms. However, he took an interesting segue after graduation, where he worked within the diplomatic missions unit of the Foreign Office in Iraq.
In this role, Kingston was based in Baghdad, and gained experience in hostage negotiation and conflict resolution. According to The Times, he utilised his “relentless optimism” to help negotiate the release of hostages and adjudicate disputes between the Iraq’s warring ethnic, religious, and tribal leaders.
In 2004, he narrowly escaped a brush with death when a a suicide-bombing claimed the lives of 22 people at the only Anglican church in Iraq. Reverend Canon Andrew White, who was known as the “Vicar of Baghdad” thanks to his ten years presiding over the Anglican church in Iraq and also survived the bombing, said previously that Kingston was an “an exceptional young man” who “makes things happen.” Kingston’s pivot to this line of work makes more sense to those that knew him well, who described him as a “very, very, very” committed Christian. At uni, he was even known as “Christian Tom.”
“Tom is one of the most remarkable people I have ever worked with and I would have him back at my side tomorrow, if he would come,” Canon Andrew said of Kingston while he was still alive. “Tom has a fierce determination to make things succeed and great insight into what makes humans tick, both good and bad. He uses those to see beyond the impossible and get through to the other side.”
In light of his tragic death, Canon Andrew told The Telegraph: “We survived several suicide bomb attacks [...] We were regularly caught up in IED [improvised explosive device] attacks. Cars would blow up in front of us and we would just move on. We were always together and had 35 armed guards at all times,” recalled Canon White.
“The thing about Tom was he was never scared. Whatever I asked him to do he would do it with a big smile on his face in the middle of a war zone.”
Following on from his time at the Foreign Office, Kingston joined the Iraqi Institute of Peace as a project officer from 2003 to 2006. The Times reports that Kingston “developed a reputation as a talented young diplomat and a devout Christian” during his time there, and worked tirelessly to help Iraqi Christians rebuild their lives in the wake of Sadam Hussein’s reign of terror.
Leaving aside the obvious propaganda, on this link:
en.wikipedia.org
