Two-book deal for BBC's Omaar

By Wale Azeez

Rageh Omaar, the BBC news correspondent who shot to prominence with his broadcasts from Baghdad during the war, has signed a twobook deal with Penguin.

Mary Mount, editorial director of Penguin subsidiary Viking Books, refused to disclose the money involved, but said the first book, Revolution Day, would be Omaar’s account of the war. It will be out in hardback in March with a Penguin paperback following a year later.

“During that conflict, millions of people turned to Omaar for the quality of his reports from Baghdad. This will be the most important book to come out of the conflict,” she said.

The second book will be about Somalia, his country of birth, and “will be a very personal book, bringing together stories of exile, war, tradition and his own family,” Mount said.