JEDDAH, 16 August 2007 — Khaled Almaeena, Arab News editor in chief, has been conferred the Civil Award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz by the Pakistan government.
The award was conferred by the Pakistan president on Almaeena for his excellent services in fostering Saudi-Pakistan relations, according to a Pakistan Consulate press release.
Almaeena was honored on the 60th anniversary of Pakistan’s Independence Day on Tuesday. The investiture ceremony will take place on Pakistan Day, March 23, 2008.
Sitara-e-Imtiaz is one of the highest honors given to a civilian in Pakistan. Literally meaning “the Star of Excellence”, the civilian is honored for distinguished merit in the fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine or science.
Almaeena was picked this year for his contribution through articulate writing of articles and analyses in bringing Saudi Arabia and Pakistan closer. He was also incisive in his writing on Pakistan, always writing from the heart.
At the helm of Arab News from 1998, Almaeena in his second stint steered the largest English-language newspaper in the Middle East — one of the many publications of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) — through the changing times in media with panache.
During this period, with the vision and the changes brought about by SRMG Chairman Prince Faisal Bin Salman, the outreach of Arab News and its sister publications have gone global — bringing the papers online and to millions of readers worldwide.
Conversant in several languages, Almaeena is proficient in English, Arabic and Urdu and has a wealth of knowledge about the Subcontinent. He has a great interest in the hopes and aspirations of the people of the Subcontinent and this has helped in him imbibing their culture while also relating to the people with ease.
Almaeena has represented Saudi media at several Arab summits. In 1990, he was one of four journalists to cover the historic resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Russia. He also traveled to China as part of this diplomatic mission.
Highly regarded for his views, Almaeena’s political and social columns appear regularly in Gulf News, Dubai, Asharq Al-Aswat, Al-Eqtisadiah, Arab News, Times of Oman, Asian Age and The China Post.
Consul General of Pakistan Zaigham Uddin Azam and his staff congratulated Almaeena for the well deserved award, which Azam said, “he earned for rendering excellent services for the promotion of Saudi-Pakistan relations.”
