Mohamad Ali Harisi is The National's Foreign Editor since October 2023. He served as AFP’s news editor for the Gulf region and Yemen in Dubai between 2016 and 2023. He was also the deputy director for the seven countries bloc. Before moving to Dubai, he was Libya’s bureau chief for two years, based in Tripoli, and Iraq’s deputy bureau chief, based in Baghdad, between 2011 and 2014. He was also a correspondent for AFP in Lebanon and an assistant foreign editor at a local outlet for five years. Since 2005, he has extensively covered conflicts and significant events in the Middle East, mainly focusing on the impact of violence on daily life. In Baghdad, Tripoli, and Dubai, he played key roles in driving newsrooms and coordinating coverage within fast-paced environments. Mohamad Ali also conducted numerous training courses in the Gulf region on newsroom management and modern reporting techniques. He has written articles on political, social, and economic developments in the MENA region and reported on key events such as the Hajj rituals, the Taliban takeover in Kabul, the emergence of the Islamic State in Baghdad, the US withdrawal from Iraq, the fall of the Qaddafi regime in Libya, and the Yemeni presidential elections in Sana’a. A graduate of the Lebanese University in Beirut, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.
