Adel Altoraifi has been appointed the new general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel after Abdulrahman Al-Rashed quit the position on Saturday for personal reasons.

The announcement was made by Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim, chairman of the MBC Group.

Altoraifi, who has a doctorate in international relations from the London School of Economics, was until recently the deputy general manager of the Dubai-based channel.

Al-Rashed, who has held the post of general manager for the last 10 years, has been appointed a member of the group’s board of directors. Al-Ibrahim thanked Al-Rashed for his dedication and successful leadership of Al Arabiya during his decade-long tenure, which witnessed many political challenges in the region. Prior to joining Al Arabiya, Al-Rashed was the editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic newspaper and Al-Majalla magazine. He has interviewed several prominent world leaders and his articles and columns garner worldwide recognition.

Recently, he oversaw the launch of Al Arabiya’s sister channel, Al Hadath. During his tenure he also supervised the expansion of Al Arabiya digitally across multiple platforms including its website.

Al-Ibrahim also wished Altoraifi all success in his new position and expressed his absolute trust in his ability to manage the channel and take it to further heights.

Altoraifi said Al Arabiya would continue on the same successful path on all fronts and pledged that it would remain a beacon of moderation and a pioneer in Arab media.

He thanked Al-Rashed for his tremendous efforts throughout the past decade and described him as a person who has established a professional school for a whole generation of Arab journalists.

Altoraifi is a Saudi journalist and a political commentator who appears regularly on regional and international news channels. Prior to joining the MBC Group, he served as the editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-Majalla.

 
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