Veteran journalist Saad Silawi passes away

AMMAN — Veteran journalist Saad Silawi passed away on Saturday at the Movenpick hotel in Beirut after a respiratory failure that resulted in a cardiac arrest, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Jordan Press Association (JPA) issued a statement on Saturday, mourning Silawi and remembering the veteran journalist’s achievements.

In the statement, JPA President Rakan Saaideh was quoted as saying that he had received assurances from Jordan’s Ambassador in Lebanon Nabil Masarweh that Silawi’s body will arrive on Sunday morning to Amman on a Royal Jordanian plane that will depart from Beirut at 5:00am the same day. 

The General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel Turki Aldakhil mourned in a Tweet the late Silawi, who served as the Dubai-based agency’s regional bureau manager and senior correspondent, Petra said. 

Silawi was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2012 and underwent a larynx-removal surgery in 2013 in Canada’s Montreal General Hospital.

In 2014, His Majesty King Abdullah bestowed the Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions of the First Class on Silawi on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of independence.

During an illustrious career, which included a stint at Al Rai, Silawi covered several wars and crises, including the Iraq-Iran conflict in the 1980s, the first Gulf War and the first and second Palestinian intifadas. 

He has met with several prominent world figures, including his Majesty King Hussein and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.