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Rageh Omaar

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Rageh Omaar
راجح عمر
Born (1967-07-19) 19 July 1967 (age 57)
Mogadishu, Somalia
Alma materNew College, Oxford
Occupation(s)BBC reporter (2000–2006), author, news presenter, columnist and Al Jazeera English reporter (2006 – present)

Rageh Omaar (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈræɡi ˈoʊmɑː/; Template:Lang-so, Template:Lang-ar; born 19 July 1967) is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. His latest book Only Half of Me deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to a new post at Al Jazeera English, where he presented the nightly weekday documentary series Witness until January 2010. The Rageh Omaar Report, first aired February 2010, is a one-hour, monthly investigative documentary in which he reports on important international current affairs stories.

Early life

Rageh was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He is the son of a wealthy businessman from the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia. A Muslim,[1] Rageh's family is originally from Hargeisa.

Rageh moved to the United Kingdom when he was two years old. He was educated at two independent schools: the Dragon School in Oxford, Oxfordshire and Cheltenham College in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He later studied Modern History at New College at the University of Oxford.

Journalism

Rageh began his journalistic career as a trainee for The Voice newspaper. In 1991, he moved to Ethiopia where he freelanced as a foreign correspondent, working mainly for the BBC World Service. A year later, he returned to London to work as a producer and broadcast journalist for the BBC. He moved to South Africa after having been appointed the BBC's Africa correspondent. Omaar's wife and children were based there through 2004, and his regular commuting made domestic life difficult.[2]

His career highlights include reporting live from war-torn Somalia and Iraq.

At the BBC and the Iraq invasion

Omaar covered the Iraq invasion for the weekday BBC news bulletins and BBC News. Many of his broadcasts were syndicated across the United States, where the Washington Post labeled him the Scud Stud.

He has written a book about his time as the BBC's Iraq correspondent called Revolution Day. The book deals with the effects of the Saddam Hussein regime, UN sanctions and of the war on Iraqi civilians.

In 2003, Omaar was the recipient of an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy award for the best TV journalist.[3]

Explaining why he left the BBC, he stated: "I wanted to be an independent journalist who did projects for the people I wanted. I wanted to be free". On being asked if he could have had more influence by staying he replied: "I don't think so. Many people from many backgrounds at the BBC have tried."

Omaar has also referred to the BBC as a "white man's club":

"It's the mentality. I'm in some ways guilty of this – I went to public school, I went to Oxford. I speak at a lot of schools with Somali kids and they say, "How do I become a journalist? We may be from the same community, but I don't have your accent." So it's a class thing rather than about being white necessarily. It's much more subtle."[4]

Omaar has expressed regret about the way in which he covered the invasion of Iraq during his time as a BBC correspondent: "We ran around, we did pieces on weapons inspectors, Saddam, the regime, and almost nothing about Iraqi people."[4] Interviewed in John Pilger's documentary The War You Don't See (2010) Omaar said: "I'd hold my hand up and say that one didn't press the most uncomfortable buttons hard enough" and called the coverage "a giant echo chamber".[5]

Al Jazeera

Omaar is now a Middle Eastern correspondent for the London Division of Al Jazeera English, and hosts his own monthly investigative documentaries called The Rageh Omaar Report.

ITV News

In January 2013 it was announced that Omaar would be joining ITV News

Awards

In 2008, Omaar was presented the Arab Media Watch Award for excellence in journalism.[6]

Personal life

In 2000, Omaar married Georgiana Rose "Nina" Montgomery-Cuninghame, the daughter of Sir John Montgomery-Cuninghame of Corsehill. The couple live in Chiswick, west London, with their three children. Rageh has three siblings: an elder sister, Raqiya Omaar, who is a human rights lawyer, another sister Saynab Abdullahi Omaar and an older brother, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, who is the Foreign Minister of Somalia.

Rageh Omaar maintains close contact with his family in Somalia, is an activist for the Somali community, and regularly attends its lectures and events.

Quotations

  • May 2006, Interview with The Independent: "In the eyes of Rageh Omaar, Western news organisations are perpetrating a "fraud" on their viewers with their misleading coverage of the war in Iraq, the conflict in which he established himself as an internationally-recognised journalist."[7]
  • May 2006, BBC One's This Week: "When I reported from Baghdad, I never doubted that the invasion would end in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. What I was sceptical about was what would follow afterwards. There was a honeymoon period, and it lasted 24 hours, during that memorable day when the statue of Saddam Hussein was torn down. But that ended the day afterwards, and everything started unravelling from that moment on."[8]

See also

Other works

Television

Books

  • Revolution Day: The Real Story of the Battle for Iraq, Penguin Books (2005), ISBN 0-14-101716-3
  • Only Half of Me: Being a Muslim in Britain, Viking (2006), ISBN 0-670-91509-2

References

  1. ^ Prime Performers – Rageh Omaar
  2. ^ Whitworth, Damian (7 February 2006). "Farewell to the front line (for now)". London: Times Online. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
  3. ^ http://www.emmainteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13538&Itemid=3320
  4. ^ a b Pool, Hannah (15 February 2007). "Question Time: Rageh Omar". London: Media Guardian.
  5. ^ John Pilger "Why are wars not being reported honestly?", The Guardian, 10 December 2010
  6. ^ Our writers win more awards
  7. ^ Churcher, Joe (15 May 2006). "Rageh Omaar: The Scud Stud aims for truth". The Independent. London. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
  8. ^ "Rageh Omar". BBC. 26 May 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2007.

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