ISLAMABAD, 28 October 2005 — The first day of his first visit to Pakistan proved lucky for young and handsome Arab News journalist Samir Al-Saadi.
At an iftar party in one of Islamabad's top hotels - Hotel Sarena, he reluctantly entered a draw. Putting the entry out of mind, Samir thought no more about it.
To his surprise, when the draw was made, he won the top prize, a round-trip ticket worth 10,000 Pakistani rupees on Air Blue for the Islamabad-Karachi-Islamabad sector.
Paying little attention to the draw, Samir had to be reminded by his Editor in Chief Khaled Almaeena, who is currently in Pakistan. "That's you, Samir," he said.
On hearing that Samir had won the ticket on his first day in Pakistan, many of the guests rose and gave the embarrassed winner a standing ovation.
Samir did not want to use the ticket and in an act of spontaneous generosity, donated it to the earthquake victims' relief fund.
Air Blue is owned by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former legislator. Shahid's father, Air Commodore Khaqan Abbasi, was an air force adviser to King Hussein of Jordan in the mid-1970s.
