# Rageh Omaar (Raage Cumar)

> Rageh Omaar (born 1967): Mogadishu-born British journalist, BBC Iraq correspondent, Al Jazeera presenter and ITV News International Affairs Editor.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/rageh-omaar/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is he?

Rageh Omaar is a Somali-born British journalist and writer ([Wikipedia, Rageh Omaar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). He made his name as a BBC world affairs correspondent reporting from Iraq (same source).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 19 July 1967 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). His father was an accountant and businessman who founded Somalia's first independent newspaper, according to Wikipedia (same source). The family moved to Britain when he was two (same source). His elder brother, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, was Somalia's foreign minister (same source). He went to the Dragon School and Cheltenham College, and studied modern history at New College, Oxford (same source). See [Somalis in the United Kingdom](/en/diaspora/united-kingdom/).

## BBC

He began as a trainee at *The Voice* newspaper ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). In 1991 he freelanced in Yemen, mainly for the BBC World Service (same source). He then joined the BBC in [London](/en/diaspora/london/) as a producer and broadcast journalist, and was later its [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) correspondent, while based in the [United Arab Emirates](/en/relations/uae/) (same source).

He reported the 2003 invasion of Iraq for BBC News, and his reports were widely syndicated in the United States ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). He wrote a book about it, *Revolution Day* (same source). He later said the coverage had given little space to Iraqi civilians, calling it "a giant echo chamber" (same source).

## Al Jazeera and ITV

In September 2006 he joined Al Jazeera English, where he presented the documentary series *Witness* and *The Rageh Omaar Report* ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rageh_Omaar)). In January 2013 he joined ITV News as a special correspondent, and the next year became its International Affairs Editor (same source). Since 2015 he has also been a deputy newscaster on *ITV News at Ten* (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born British journalist known for reporting Iraq for the BBC, and later ITV News's International Affairs Editor.

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