Abd al-Bari Atwan

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Abd al-Bari Atwan (Arabic: عبد الباري عطوان) is the editor-in chief of the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

He was born on February 17, 1950 in Dair Al-Balah, a Palestinian refugee camp. He was one of 11 children. After primary school at the camp, his schooling was continued first in Jordan in 1967, and then in Cairo, Egypt. In 1970 he entered Cairo University where he studied journalism and also received a diploma in English-Arabic translation. After his graduation he started work as a journalist, first with Al Balaagh newspaper in Libya, then with Al Madina newspaper in Saudi Arabia. In 1978, he moved to London, where he has lived ever since, and assumed a job with the Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper. In 1980 he set up the London office of Al Madina and in 1984 returned to Al Sharq Al Awsat.

In 1989 Al-Quds Al-Arabi was founded and Abd al-Bari Atwan was offered the job as editor-in-chief. During the 1990/91 Gulf war, Al-Quds Al-Arabi gained fame because of its opposition to the American-led attack. Though the paper did not approve of the Iraqi attack on Kuwait, the UN-backed intervention was seen as intrusive and a meddling into Arab affairs. In 1996 Abd al-Bari Atwan interviewed Osama bin Laden. He had to travel through the mountains, dressed in Afghan clothing. He later called the experience his "most frightening trip". His impression of bin Laden was that he is "a phenomenon, extreme".

Abd al-Bari Atwan is sometimes a guest on Dateline London on BBC World, and CNN World.