Award-winning journalist Rageh Omaar has joined ITV News as a special correspondent
Omaar, who rose to fame covering the Iraq invasion in Baghdad as senior foreign correspondent at the BBC, joins from Al Jazeera, where he worked on investigative news and documentary programming including Witness and The Rageh Omaar Report.
Commenting on the move, Omaar said: "Joining ITV News represents a return to news reporting for me, which is where my passion for journalism began.
“I feel incredibly excited to be joining such a fantastic and thriving news organisation with a wonderful history."
Omaar has worked for BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, Dispatches and Panorama, as well as developing and presenting documentaries for ITV, BBC, Channel 4, Sky and Al Jazeera.
His reporting from Darfur for the BBC earned him a Peabody Award. As the only western TV journalist to report from inside Taliban-held Kabul he was awarded a prestigious BAFTA for the BBC’s coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan.
Michael Jermey, ITV’s director of news and current affairs, said: "Rageh is one of the very best television news correspondents of his generation. We're delighted that he's joining ITV News as we continue to invest in high quality journalism."
Jonathan Munro, acting editor, ITV News, said: “Rageh Omaar is a highly respected correspondent with an impressive background in delivering coverage. I’m thrilled he’s joining ITV News and I look forward to seeing the expertise and experience he’ll bring to our programmes.”
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