Sixty-five-year-old Abdul Jabbar Hussain Dawood is the longest-serving member of Arab News staff. He joined the newspaper just two years after its launch in 1975.
“I joined Arab News on July 5, 1977,” he said. “The newspaper was located in those days in Jeddah’s Al-Sharafiya district.”
He was working for Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper Dawn when he was tapped for a job at Arab News.
“Mohammed Ali was the general manager of the newspaper in those early days. He was a Pakistani national and came from Karachi. He was a confidant of the Hafiz brothers (Hisham and Muhammad Ali Hafiz) — the founders of Arab News — and did most of the hiring,” Abdul Jabbar said.
Abdul Jabbar was working at Dawn as an Intertype and Linotype machine operator. Back then, the world of printing revolved around these two automated typesetting machines.
“I learned how to operate the machines from my father and brother. It was my father, along with an Englishman, who were instrumental in setting the printing press for Dawn newspaper after Pakistan’s independence in 1947.”
One evening, while he was working in the Dawn office in Karachi in 1977, he got a call from Mohammed Ali, the general manager.
“He had heard of my operating skills from a common friend — Abdul Mateen Munshi, who later became a librarian at Arab News — so he straight away made me a job offer as a Linotype operator at Arab News in Jeddah,” Abdul Jabbar said.
When he landed in Jeddah, he joined a team of two senior operators, both fellow Pakistanis: Barkatullah and Mohammed Riyaz Sher.
“The newspaper was in a tabloid format and initially had eight pages. Within months it became 12 pages, then 16 and then 20,” Abdul Jabbar said.
“There was far too much work. The economy was booming. Oil was flowing and the country was flush with money. Advertisements were pouring in. Just as the economy was growing, the newspaper grew as well.”
“When I turned up at the office on the first day, Jihad Al-Khazen was the managing editor. A few days later, he left for London to prepare for the launch of our sister publication Asharq Al-Awsat.”
Abdul Jabbar said the newspaper was located in what was in fact a garage. “There was this two-story building, and next to it was a long hall-type structure in which the printing press was. There were two tiny rooms on top of the building in which some of us lived in those early days.”
Later, they were moved to a nearby flat that the company owned. “That flat and the building had no running water, no real electricity and no fan. We were very uncomfortable there,” he said with a wry smile.
He recalls the words of Abdul Hadi Bafaqeer, the printing press manager at the time, after he returned from a visit to Pakistan where he had hired more people.
“In Karachi, Abdul Hadi had been put up in Hotel Mehran on Shah Faisal Street. When he came back and looked at the accommodation we were living in, he felt sorry for us: ‘You came from Karachi? It is such a beautiful and well-developed city. I can imagine how you feel in this decrepit building’.”
Abdul Jabbar said Muhammad Ali Hafiz, the younger of the Hafiz brothers, was always with them as they typed the stories.
“He always encouraged us. He always told us to maintain the deadline. But the work was literally insurmountable. We knew when we went into the office, but we never knew when we would be able to leave.”
Abdul Jabbar said most of the reporters and editors came from Lebanon. “The only exception was a Pakistani national, Roohul Amin, whose son Mashhood Amin is now an employee of Arab News,” he said.
Among the first women to work for Arab News was Faiza Saleh Ambah in the late 1980s, said Abdul Jabbar.
“There were other women too, but she was the most prominent one,” he said. “Much later, Abeer Mishkhas and Dahlia Rahaimy joined us.”
Ambah went on to report for the Associated Press, the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor. She has recently become a filmmaker.
From the garage in Al-Sharafiya, the newspaper relocated to a fine building in Al-Faisaliya. “That was in 1982 and the publishers were very happy. The company had grown beyond belief. Next to the building was the Madinah Printing Press. Members of staff began relocating to flats in nearby areas. Linotype machines became computerized,” he said.
“The new machines were complex. They did not have a normal screen like we have today. We didn’t know what we were typing. Everything came out in the form of ribbon with different dots punched in. We had to decipher the words from the dots.”
In his 40-year career at Arab News, Abdul Jabbar recalls two particular incidents. “In 1981, (then-US President) Ronald Reagan was shot at by a young man, and we got the news at 2:30 in the morning. I was the only one in the office, and I was working on copy for the next day.
“Suddenly the managing editor, Ilyas Haddad, barged into the newsroom and said, ‘We have an urgent story. Don’t you worry, I will write it and you compose. Don’t panic; we will do it together.’ We did, and the attempted assassination story was in the newspaper the next morning.”
Abdul Jabbar also remembers how he was woken up at 4 in the morning in 1991 when the first Gulf War began.
“I was staying close to the office and a messenger came running, saying I had been summoned for a breaking story. We came out with a special edition that day.”
In 1977, Abdul Jabbar worked for a monthly salary of SR1,300 ($346). “It was a handsome amount. SR1 was equal to a little less than 3 Pakistani rupees,” he said (today SR1 is 28 Pakistani rupees). “Four months later, I got a raise of SR400.”
Abdul Jabbar got married in 1984, and brought his young wife Ghazala to Saudi Arabia. “I have three sons — all were born in Jeddah,” he said proudly.
“They all grew up in this city. There were very few recreational activities for families in those days. We would take our children to the International Market. We did not have a car so we walked there from home. That was among the newest malls in the mid-1980s. There was also the Mahmoud Saeed open market near the famous Bicycle Roundabout. We often shopped there.”
As the newspaper has evolved, so has the city. “It has been a roller-coaster ride at Arab News. Change often happened at breakneck speed. Computers and programs constantly changed. We had to keep pace with the times,” he said. “Jeddah evolved into a modern city. The facilities we enjoy today did not exist 20 years ago.”
Abdul Jabbar remembers going to watch films in Al-Balad in 1977. “In those days, the newspaper was closed for one day; it was not published on Fridays. We often went to Al-Balad, where there were open-air theaters. They mostly showed Indian films. The ticket was SR10, but if there was the latest Hollywood release, we paid SR15 or even SR20. During Eid, the prices were jacked up.”
He said the party was short-lived. “By 1980, all entertainment activity came to a grinding halt. Then came the videocassette player (VCR), which changed everything. Instead of going to the cinema, the cinema came into our living rooms.”
“In 1977, Arab News was a tabloid. A couple of years later, it became a broadsheet and was white, not its now-familiar green.”
The newspaper is currently located in Jeddah’s Al-Rawdah district. “We moved here in 2009 when Khaled Almaeena was the editor in chief,” Abdul Jabbar said.
“The fact that Arab News retained me for so many years is a matter of pride for me. This newspaper has given me everything I have today,” he said as he drew a page on the latest wide-bodied 27-inch iMac — a far cry from the rickety Linotype machines that he operated in the 1970s.
From Linotype machines to iMacs: The longest-serving Arab News staffer looks back on 40 years
From Linotype machines to iMacs: The longest-serving Arab News staffer looks back on 40 years
Saudi Arabia expresses regret over failure on Palestine’s bid for UN membership
- Kingdom reaffirms its support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination
- Jordan also expresses ‘sincere sorrow’ on the Security Council’s inability to approve the resolution
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia expressed its regret for at the failure of United Nations Security Council adopting a resolution accepting full membership of Palestine in the UN.
In an official statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on social media platform X, the Kingdom said the ‘failure to adopt the resolution allows for the Israeli occupation to continue its violations if international law without deterrence and will not bring the desired peace closer.”
#بيان | تعرب وزارة الخارجية عن أسف المملكة العربية السعودية لفشل مجلس الأمن الدولي في اعتماد مشروع قرار بقبول العضوية الكاملة لدولة فلسطين في الأمم المتحدة. pic.twitter.com/8ZGFdGmY50
— وزارة الخارجية (@KSAMOFA) April 19, 2024
The ministry renewed the Kingdom’s call for the international community assume its responsibility towards stopping the Israeli occupation’s attacks on civilians in Gaza.
The Kingdom also reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and establishing their Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolutions.
Jordan also expressed its ‘sincere sorrow’ on the Security Council’s inability to approve a resolution that would have admitted Palestine as a full member of the UN due to the US veto power.
In a statement, the country’s foreign affairs ministry reaffirmed “that the international community is in favor of the two-state solution, which Israel is undermining.
“The Security Council must recognize the Palestinian state in order to stop Israel from depriving the Palestinian people of their right to freedom and their own state,” state news agency Petra reported.
“Recognizing the Palestinian state and its full membership is a necessary step to impose a just peace that ends the occupation, ends the conflict, and fulfills the right of all the peoples of the region to live in security and stability,” ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said.
“Jordan demands that all nations acknowledge the State of Palestine on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as a prerequisite to achieving regional peace and security.”
Italian Embassy celebrates blossoming ties with Saudi Arabia on first ‘Made in Italy Day’
- Mission marks event with opening of new visa application center, exhibition space
- Facility will be used to promote ‘quality, variety and creativity’ of Italian goods, official says
RIYADH: The Italian Embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday celebrated the inaugural “Made in Italy Day” with the opening of a new visa application center and exhibition space.
Giuliano Fragnito, the deputy head of the mission, told Arab News the event provided an opportunity to showcase Italian expertise in a variety of fields, including the fashion, design, automotive and space industries.
“Today we are celebrating ‘Made in Italy Day,’ which is a day that celebrates the creativity, innovation and the territories of Italy and Italy’s products,” he said.
The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the birth of Leonardo da Vinci on April 15, 1452.
Fragnito said the new exhibition space, called Casa Italia, would be used to promote Italy from a “commercial, cultural and scientific point of view,” with the opening event being a celebration of its contribution to the space industry, titled “Italian Space Way.”
The event was fitting as Italy and Saudi Arabia were close partners in the sector, with the Italian Space Agency and Saudi Space Commission signing an agreement in 2022 to work more closely together, he said.
The wider purpose of Tuesday’s celebrations was to highlight the growing relationship between Italy and the Kingdom in a range of fields, Fragnito said.
“Saudi Arabia is a key partner of Italy and the bilateral relationship is growing at a very fast pace … first of all from a political point of view but also the trade sector, scientific cooperation, academic cooperation and cultural cooperation.”
Italian exports to Saudi Arabia grew by 20 percent last year and Rome was keen to take the relationship between the two countries “to the next level,” he said.
“The Saudi market is more and more conscious and appreciates the quality, the variety and the creativity of the Italian products.
“Saudi Arabia is a key partner of Italy and it is very important to celebrate ‘Made in Italy Day’ in Saudi Arabia, which is a very important market for Italian exports.”
The new visa application center, which is co-managed by technology services companies AlmaViva and VFS Global, is located at Gate 2 of Loclizer Mall in Riyadh. Similar services are also available in Jeddah and Dammam.
Saudi authorities thwart attempt to smuggle Captagon pills
RIYADH: The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1,006,518 Captagon pills at Duba Port, northwest of the Kingdom.
The pills were found hidden in a shipment labeled “pepper and guava” coming into the Kingdom through the port. After the seizure was completed, coordination was made with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control to ensure the arrest of the expected recipient of the seized items inside the Kingdom, and he was arrested.
Authorities said they are committed to tightening Customs control of the Kingdom’s imports and exports, stressing that they will stay vigilant to fight smuggling attempts to ensure the security of the society.
Saudi authorities have recently made several drug-related arrests and confiscations in operations across the Kingdom. Border Guard land patrols in the Jazan region thwarted an attempt to smuggle 120 kg of qat. The patrols also foiled an attempt to smuggle 170 kg of qat in Al-Ardah governorate of the same region.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority begins archaeological survey
- Study will look at the reserve in depth and conduct archaeological studies to help it achieve its strategic objectives
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority on Thursday announced it had launched a comprehensive preliminary archaeological survey.
The study — which was announced on April 18, World Heritage Day — will look at the reserve in depth and conduct archaeological studies to help it achieve its strategic objectives, while working toward targets for the year 2030 for the Kingdom’s royal reserves.
The study is being done in partnership with King Saud University and in cooperation with the Heritage Commission. It is being led by a team of experts and specialized national competencies, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
It will be conducted using two methods: the first via satellite, and the second, based on what is known as the “comprehensive archaeological survey,” by visiting the discovered sites, while preparing a detailed report for each site visited.
The survey involves producing studies on the old environment; work on rehabilitating archaeological and historic sites; and an attempt to label suitable sites as tourist attractions. It will also include developing a plan to preserve existing and discovered sites.
The King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve is one of the seven reserves established by royal decree. It holds governmental membership in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is managed by an independent body headed by the Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif.
Saudi Arabia and Armenia to forge ‘road map’ for diplomatic ties, FM Ararat Mirzoyan tells Arab News
Saudi Arabia and Armenia to forge ‘road map’ for diplomatic ties, FM Ararat Mirzoyan tells Arab News
- ‘No limit’ to opportunities for Saudi-Armenian cooperation, says Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on ‘historic’ Riyadh visit
- Says Armenian government supports a ceasefire in Gaza and the two-state solution for Israel-Palestine
- Discusses ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project, which offers ‘window of opportunity’ for lasting peace in South Caucasus
RIYADH: Armenia is committed to drafting a “road map” for the development of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, Ararat Mirzoyan, Armenia’s minister for foreign affairs, told Arab News on Thursday in an exclusive interview during a visit to the Kingdom.
In a wide-ranging discussion, in which he explored the development of ties, the peace process in the South Caucasus, and the war in Gaza, Mirzoyan said the establishment of official diplomatic relations in November last year was only the start.
“Historically, we have enjoyed friendly relations with the Arab world, with all the Arab countries, and these relations have been based on traditionally historically friendly relations between our peoples, between Arab people and the people of Armenia,” he said.
“And we also should remember that many Arab countries became home for Armenian refugees, the survivors of the Armenian genocide. But of course, the cultural ties, the relations — they were there even before that.”
Mirzoyan met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh on Wednesday, and was also received at the Saudi Ministry of Education and Ministry of Economy.
“We don’t want to stop here. There are so many areas, there are so many fields where we can deepen our cooperation. And there are so many spheres where we can explore what we can do jointly. And hopefully, after this visit, the road map will emerge — a road map of development of relations,” he said.
The past few years have seen gradually warming ties between the two countries. In October 2021, Armenia’s then-President Armen Sarkissian visited Saudi Arabia. This visit marked the beginning of a new diplomatic future for Armenia.
Although formal diplomatic relations are new, Mirzoyan is highly optimistic about the mutual benefits of developing ties.
“Frankly, there is no limit here,” he said. “Education, sciences, advanced technologies, urban development, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people contacts, trade, investment, and infrastructure. There are so many things going on on the ground here in Saudi Arabia, but also in Armenia.”
Mirzoyan praised the launch of commercial flights between Riyadh and the Armenian capital Yerevan by Saudi airline Flynas, which began in June last year, saying he expects the development to increase tourism between both nations.
The foreign minister also congratulated Saudi Arabia on winning its bid for Expo 2030 — a bid for which Armenia expressed its support in 2022.
“Our vision is that we should build a very good and close cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including when it comes to regional affairs, but also international fora,” he said.
“I see possible close cooperation on international fora as well. Again, I would like to mention that when Saudi Arabia came up with the bid for Expo 2030, Armenia was among the countries who supported this.”
Mirzoyan also expressed his support for a two-state solution and ceasefire in Palestine. In December last year, Armenia joined Saudi Arabia and more than 150 other countries in the UN General Assembly in voting for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. If necessary, and if asked, he said Armenia would be ready to act as a potential facilitator between the two sides.
“Armenia has always supported the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel, and Armenia is strongly against the violence and targeting civilian populations,” Mirzoyan said, adding that Armenia had very recently been on the receiving end of such violence.
“So we are really strongly against violence against civilian populations,” said Mirzoyan.
Armenia’s commitment to helping war-affected civilian populations has gone beyond mere words and condemnation. Last month it sent 30 tonnes of food and medicine to displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering in Rafah.
“Armenia regrets tens of thousands of innocent victims of the escalation of hostilities in Gaza. We ourselves have experienced the horror of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and we join calls of the international community for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press briefing during a visit to Egypt to discuss aid deliveries.
Mirzoyan said he hoped the aid “could help a little bit (to) ease the situation and the suffering of these people.”
Closer to home, Mirzoyan expressed his desire to see peace between Armenia and other nations in the South Caucasus, although he acknowledged that lasting peace would require efforts to overcome any obstacles.
“We truly believe that there is a window of opportunity, quite realistic momentum, to establish lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” he said. “My government is committed to this peace agenda, and we are engaged in negotiations in good faith in quite a constructive manner.
“Although to tell the truth, there are still a couple of crucial issues regarding which the positions of the sides are far from each other. The first issue is, of course, the issue of the borders and mutual recognition of territorial integrity.”
The South Caucasus has been the site of frequent territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who have quarreled over their respective borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
To normalize the relationship, Mirzoyan said all parties had to respect the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity.
“We believe that everything can be unblocked, including the railways, and we believe that everything that is going to be unblocked should remain under the sovereignty of the respective countries,” he said.
“The infrastructure on Armenian territory should remain under Armenian sovereignty and, respectively, the Azerbaijan infrastructure under its sovereignty. And also this infrastructure should function according to our national legislations, and everything should be done in accordance with the principles of equality and reciprocity.”
Armenia can ensure the security of people and cargo passing through its territory without the need of any third country presence, he added.
Mirzoyan explained that his country had launched an initiative to improve prospects for stability and peace by unblocking transport infrastructure across the region.
“We came up with an initiative. We gave a title to it — Crossroads of Peace — because we truly believe that if the whole transport infrastructure is unblocked in the South Caucasus, including the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Turkish roads and railways, that will be not only beneficial in terms of economy, but also it will become a significant factor of peace and stability in our region.”
Even beyond Armenia and the South Caucasus, the initiative could have global repercussions, said Mirzoyan.
“Several countries are interested in this implementation of this project of peace, the Crossroads of Peace, because the benefits are obvious and I spoke about this in terms of east-west connections, but also we should remember south-north or north-south connections. And that’s why it’s called a crossroads.”
He added: “It could be useful for connecting, for instance, the Arab world, Saudi Arabia, with the Black Sea region and beyond.”
Armenia is embarking on diplomatic ties with several nations and multilateral bodies, including the EU, as it shifts away from its historically strongest ally, Russia.
“It’s fair to note that the relations between Armenia and the Russian Federation are not at their brightest point, I would say,” said Mirzoyan. “Of course, there are complications, and we don’t … want to hide these complications.
“There are issues, there are questions within Armenian society, for instance, regarding the behavior of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, but also regarding the behavior of our Russian allies when our sovereign territories were being attacked in 2022, 2023, and before that. So indeed, there are some issues there. But we work on it.”
Armenia has had frozen relations with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since autumn last year. Formed in 2002, the CSTO is a military alliance which consists of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Mirzoyan stated in an interview in March with Turkiye’s TRT World that Armenia’s application for EU candidacy was under discussion.
Addressing the issue with Arab News, Mirzoyan said: “The people of the Republic of Armenia do have European aspirations and it is becoming more and more strong on the background of the frustration that Armenian people had in terms of Armenian-Russian relations, but not limited to that.
“I mean, Armenia is really deepening, significantly deepening, its relations with the US, with the EU. They are our main partners in our democratic reform agenda. Now they show a strong willingness to support Armenia, to strengthen Armenia’s economic resilience.
“We are starting with the EU a new path of close partnership and, so far, none can say for sure where this path will lead the two sides.”
