Wadah Khanfar

Wadah Khanfar, Director General - Al Jazeera Network Ranked as one of the most 'Powerful People in the World' by Forbes Magazine, named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (Davos), recognized as the 3rd most influential Arab in the world by Arabian Business, and one of the most influential Muslims in the world (Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre), Wadah Khanfar is the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. During his tenure Al Jazeera went from a single channel to a media network with multiple properties including the Al Jazeera Arabic channel, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera Sport, Al Jazeera's news websites, the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Al Jazeera Mubasher (Live), and Al Jazeera Mobile. Khanfar started his career with Al Jazeera in 1997 covering some of the world's key political zones. Khanfar's first role in the organisation was as an analyst correspondent in South Africa. In 2001/2002 he was a war correspondent in Afghanistan and during the war in Iraq, he reported from Kurdish-controlled territory in the North. Later, he was appointed as the Chief of the Baghdad Bureau. Khanfar became Managing Director of the Al Jazeera Channel in 2003 and Director General of the Al Jazeera Network in 2006. One of his first mandates as managing director was to launch the Al Jazeera Code of Ethics and Al Jazeera's Code of Conduct in July 2004 at the First Al Jazeera International Forum. Khanfar has addressed leading political and media think tanks including the Middle East Institute, Wilton Park, Chatham House, New America Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He has appeared on the Charlie Rose Show, BBC’s Hardtalk, NPR's Diane Rheem show, and presented at the Paley Center for Media. Khanfar has a diverse academic background with post-graduate studies in Philosophy, African Studies, and International Politics.

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