JEDDAH, 26 July 2006 — Renowned ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan will be the chief guest of a ghazal night being held at the Saudi German Hospital auditorium on Thursday, 9 p.m., in his honor. he arrived here on Monday along with his son Sajjad Mehdi. He was received at the airport by Rashid Abdul Latif and Rehan Bukhari of Saudi German Hospital and he went from the airport to Makkah to perform Umrah. His student Syed Masood Abbasi, a local singer, will be on stage on Thursday. Families are allowed. For further information and passes contact Rashid Abdul Latif on 0508976331. The maestro has been in poor health following a paralytic stroke. He is universally acclaimed as the finest ghazal singer of his time. His unsurpassed vocal range and his mastery over even difficult ragas makes him the undisputed emperor of ghazals.