Mustapha Karkouti

Mustapha Karkouti
Born	Latakia, Syria
Residence	London, England, UK
Occupation	Journalist and media consultant
Known for	Journalism
Religion	Sunni Muslim

Mustapha Karkouti is a Syrian born freelance journalist and media consultant, residing in London since the early 1970s.

Personal and career background

He was born in Latakia in northern Syria. He started as an agency journalist in the 1960s and went on to be a founding member of As-safir, the Lebanese newspaper. As its foreign correspondent he was sent to London in the early 1970s. In 1977 he met his wife and was married in 1978.

In 1993 he was elected President of the Foreign Press Association in London. Karkouti was a founding member of Arab-US Forum, and elected member of Chatham House Council . He is a frequent guest on TV and radio talk shows, such as BBC News' Dateline London.

Iranian Embassy Siege

Whilst arranging a trip to Tehran he was taken hostage in the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege in London. The terrorists used him to communicate with the police and other hostages. He was released before the SAS stormed the embassy.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ The Observer 16 May 2004: What happened next
2. ^ The National, 16 October 2008: Still a hostage, but no longer afraid Retrieved 2011-11-06

Persondata
Name	Mustapha Karkouti
Alternative names
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Date of birth
Place of birth	Latakia, Syria
Date of death
Place of death