Ibrahim al-Abed, the founder of the United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency and a pioneering media figure as the oil-rich nation grew into a regional power, has died at age 78.
Al-Abed long served as the head of the country’s National Media Council, a government regulatory body. He also was a de facto government spokesman, with his phone number the first ring by foreign journalists for decades as Abu Dhabi and Dubai grew into the skyscraper-studded cities they are today.
This undated photo released by Emirates News Agency, WAM, shows Ibrahim al-Abed, the founder of the state-run news agency. (WAM via AP)
WAM, which announced al-Abed’s death, offered no cause.
A Palestinian by birth, al-Abed fled on his father’s shoulders during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s establishment, his longtime colleague and friend Peter Hellyer said.
Al-Abed created the WAM news agency in 1977 and helped Hellyer set up the agency’s English wire in 1978. He also served as a trusted media adviser to generations of Emirati government officials, later becoming an Emirati citizen himself.
— AP
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