Currently a roving correspondent for Al Jazeera English in the Middle East, Hashem Ahelbarra regularly covers news in Afghanistan, Yemen, as well as in the Gulf countries, North Africa, and the Sahel.
Hashem Ahelbarra began his media career in 1997 as a correspondent for the Arabic news channel ANN in Morocco. Between 1998 and 2000, he held positions as a host, editor-in-chief, and presenter on Morocco’s second channel, 2M. He has over 25 years of experience in the media industry, covering numerous major international news stories throughout his career, including conducting exclusive interviews with prominent leaders such as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
Before joining Al Jazeera English in 2006, he worked for the Emirati channel Abu Dhabi, covering the U.S. presidential elections, post-9/11 events, and Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. He later moved to Iraq, where he was one of the few Arab correspondents to accompany U.S. forces during their ground invasion.
