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Feras Kilani

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Feras Kilani
Born (1976-04-02) 2 April 1976 (age 48)
Damascus
NationalityBritish
EducationPhilosophy, University of Damascus
Occupation(s)Special correspondent, film maker
EmployerBBC
AwardsThe Press Freedom Award, International Media Awards Arab Journalism Award, Shortlisted to Frontline Club award
kilani Joined Iraqi Snipers as they advanced to Old City of Mosul

Feras Kilani (born 2 April 1976) is a Palestinian-British journalist and film maker, and BBC Arabic's special correspondent.[1][2][3][citation needed]He is best known for his coverage in war-zones in the Middle East, specifically reporting from Libya, Iraq and Syria[4][5][6]

Career

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He started his media career in 1995, in the Syrian State TV in Damascus where he worked as a Director, and documentary maker[7] until 2006, when he left to join Al Bayan in United Arab Emirates.[8]

Kilani joined BBC World Service in 2009. During his time at the BBC, he was News Editor for 2 of BBC Arabic's flagship programmes, World at One and the Arabic version of Newsnight.[9]

Libya uprising

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On 8 March 2011, while reporting on the Libya uprising for BBC Arabic TV, Kilani was picked up at an army roadblock near Tripoli along with two BBC colleagues. They were imprisoned, beaten and subject to mock executions at Khalat al-Farjan farm behind the Yarmouk headquarters just outside Tripoli. After 22 hours they were released.[10][11][12][13]

Syrian conflict

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Kilani has covered the Syrian conflict for the BBC since it started in 2011.[14][15][16]

In 2016, he got exclusive access to Islamic State held city of Manbij, making him the first international journalist to get inside the city since the start of the battle to force IS out.[17][18][19]

Battle of Mosul

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In November 2016, during his coverage for the Battle of Mosul (2016–17) in Iraq, Feras Kilani and cameraman Marek Polaszewski were following soldiers going door to door to clear homes of suspected militants in the city when a car bomb exploded. Video footage showed IS launching a full attack in the confusion that follows.[20][21][22]

Kilani said it took three hours for the Iraqi forces to contain the attack.[23][24]

Documentaries

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Kilani directed multiple documentaries during his career. Most of his work with Syrian State TV was not archived, but the documentaries he produced for PBS and the BBC were.

  • Awaiting return – Palestinian refugees in Syria (2003)
  • Exile: Abdul Rahman Munif's life (2004)
  • The Twins: Beirut and Damascus (2005)
  • Syyaf Al-Zuhour: Muhammad al-Maghut (2006)
  • Libya's Torture Farms (2012)[25]
  • The fight for Justice: Nusra Front in Syria (2013)
  • The Fight for Benghazi (2016)[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Frontline Club Awards". fronline awards shortlis.
  2. ^ "IMDB". IMDb.
  3. ^ "milliyet".
  4. ^ "The massacre at Libya's Khalat al-Farjan compound". BBC.
  5. ^ "Benghazi in crisis". PBS.
  6. ^ "BBC".
  7. ^ Feras Kilani فراس كيلاني (11 July 2013), في انتظار العودة – اللاجئون الفلسطينيون في سوريا, retrieved 11 August 2017
  8. ^ ""شبيحة النظام" في مواجهة ثورة الإعلام". البيان (in Arabic). 24 July 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  9. ^ "جدول البث التلفزيوني". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Colonel Gaddafi's forces detain and beat BBC team". BBC.
  11. ^ "BBC journalists tortured in mock execution ordeal". The independent.
  12. ^ "BBC staff 'arrested and tortured in Libya by Gaddafi forces'". The Guardian.
  13. ^ "BBC team tortured in Libya". ABC.
  14. ^ "Syria conflict: Jihadists 'beating America's allies'". BBC News. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Inside Aleppo province: On the ground with Kurdish forces fighting IS". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Inside Shaddadi: The town destroyed by Syria's conflict". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Video experience headlines". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Reports: Dozens Of Civilians Killed In U.S-Led Coalition Strike In Syria". WNYC. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Reports: Dozens Of Civilians Killed In U.S-Led Coalition Strike In Syria". NPR. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Watch the moment 2 BBC journalists narrowly escape an ISIS car bomb attack in Mosul". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  21. ^ "فريق بي بي سي ينجو من هجوم انتحاري قرب الموصل". BBC Arabic. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  22. ^ BBC Arabic بي بي سي عربي (5 November 2016), فريق بي بي سي ينجو من هجوم انتحاري قرب الموصل, retrieved 11 August 2017
  23. ^ "BBC journalists cheat death after being caught up in terrifying Isis attack in Mosul". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  24. ^ Bishop, Rachel (7 November 2016). "BBC news crew almost blown-up live on air in ISIS attack". mirror. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  25. ^ "BBC journalists describe detention, beatings in Libya". Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  26. ^ "Benghazi in Crisis". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
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