RIYADH — Veteran Saudi television journalist and renowned broadcaster Ghaleb Kamel passed away at the age of 81. Kamel's death happened on Saturday morning while he was receiving treatment at a hospital in the Riyadh Military City, his son Raed said in a statement on his Twitter account. The health condition of Kamel, who was suffering from prolonged chest diseases, had worsened after he was transferred from Jordan to Saudi Arabia on an air ambulance. Kamel was one of the founders of the Saudi Radio and Television. Born in Silat Al-Zuhr in 1941, he was among the oldest broadcasters of the Saudi Television Channel 1. He had a brilliant and illustrious broadcasting media track record spanning over 40 years. He started his journalistic career by joining Jeddah Radio in the year 1384 AH and then switched over to Saudi Television in 1401AH. He held several journalistic positions mainly in Riyadh as well as in Jeddah, Madinah and Amman. After more than four decades of service, Kamel retired in 1420 AH, and then worked for some time as media advisor of Abdullah Al-Jasser, deputy minister of information for media affairs at that time. Kamel was a pioneering Saudi broadcasting media personality. He is considered as one of the oldest broadcasters of the Saudi Television Channel 1, along with a number of founders of the Saudi Radio and Television, such as Majed Al-Shibl, Abdul Rahman Yaghmour, Suleiman Al-Issa, and Hussein Al-Najjar. Kamel was nicknamed "Friend of the Departed" as a token of honor for him to have the opportunity to work along with a handful of departed eminent Saudi media professionals such as Mutlaq Al-Dhiabi, Yahya Kattouh, Suleiman Al-Issa, Abdul Rahman Yaghmour, Majed Al-Shibl, and Abbas Ghazzawi. Kamel was the presenter and anchor of several popular television programs. He was known for his matchless eloquence and was distinguished by his presentation and his ability to manage difficult dialogue sessions, with an extraordinary talent for precision in presentation without disregarding any details, no matter how trivial it might be. Several prominent figures, including government officials and senior media personalities as well as the social media users mourned the death of the veteran journalist. They included Bader Al-Asaker, director of the private office for Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. Al-Asaker tweeted: "May Almighty God have mercy on Ghaleb Kamel, one of the pioneers in the field of radio and television and one among those who established a golden generation for us in the media field, and engraved their name in our memory... Sincere condolences to his family and relatives... We belong to God and to Him we will return." The Saudi Television aired a comprehensive report on Kamel focusing on his career, as well as on the popular programs that he presented and anchored.
