Rageh Omaar Biography
Rageh Omaar is a British journalist and writer of Somali origin. He was a BBC world affairs correspondent who made a name for himself by reporting from Iraq.
How old is Rageh Omaar? – Age
He is 54 years old as of 19 July 2021. He was born in 1967 in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Rageh Omaar Family
Omaar is the son of Abdullahi and Sahra Omaar. His father was an accountant who went on to become a businessman, a representative of Massey Ferguson tractors, the founder of the country’s first independent newspaper, and the man who brought Coca-Cola to Somalia. His family is originally from Hargeisa and he is a Muslim. Omaar is a member of a prominent family from the Habr Awal Isaaq clan’s Sa’ad Musa sub-division. Omaar moved to the United Kingdom when he was two years old. He has several siblings, including a former Somali Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar.
Is Rageh Omaar still married? – Wife
Omaar is married to Georgiana Rose “Nina” Montgomery-Cuninghame, daughter of Corsehill’s Sir John Montgomery-Cuninghame. The couple and their three children live in Chiswick, West London.
Rageh Omaar Salary – Net Worth
His salary is not revealed. He has an estimated net worth of $1.5 Million.
Rageh Omaar Weight Loss
He is still in his shape and has not shown any signs of him having lost his weight.
Rageh Omaar Career
Omaar began his journalism career as a trainee at The Voice. In 1991, he relocated to Ethiopia to work as a freelance foreign correspondent, primarily for the BBC World Service. Omaar returned to London a year later to work for the BBC as a producer and broadcast journalist. He relocated to South Africa after being named the BBC’s Africa correspondent. Omaar’s wife and children lived there until 2004, and his frequent commuting made domestic life difficult.
His career highlights include live coverage of conflicts in Somalia and Iraq. Omaar reported on the Iraq invasion for the BBC’s weekday news bulletins and BBC News. Many of his broadcasts were syndicated across the United States, earning him the moniker “Scud Stud.”
Omaar explained why he eventually left the BBC by saying he wanted to operate independently and take on assignments for people with whom he wanted to collaborate. He also claimed that the BBC’s working environment was somewhat exclusive on a class basis, and that he was guilty of this to some extent as a result of his public school education. He has also expressed regret about the way he covered the Iraq invasion while working as a BBC correspondent. He claimed that he and his colleagues focused on Saddam Hussein, his regime, and weapons inspectors while ignoring the Iraqi people. In an interview for John Pilger’s documentary The War You Don’t See in 2010, Omaar lamented that “one didn’t press the most uncomfortable buttons hard enough” and referred to the coverage as a “giant echo chamber.”
Omaar joined Al Jazeera English in September 2006. He worked as a Middle Eastern correspondent for the newspaper’s London Division. He hosted the nightly weekday documentary series Witness during his time at the news organization. He also hosted The Rageh Omaar Report, a monthly show featuring his own investigative documentaries. Omaar was announced as a new special correspondent for ITV News in January 2013. The following year, he was promoted to ITV News’ International Affairs Editor.
Rageh has been a Deputy Newscaster for ITV News at Ten since October 2015, in addition to his duties as International Affairs Editor. Omaar has occasionally presented the ITV Lunchtime News, including the ITV News London Lunchtime Bulletin, and the ITV Evening News since September 2017.