Taysir Alluni: Profile

Sadly this success possibly lead to the second cause of his recognition. Alluni is now known the world over as the Aljazeera journalist arrested by Spanish authorities on alleged links to terrorism.

Below is a brief outline of the life of Alluni.

• Born in Syria in 1955.
• He obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from a Syrian university.
• Travelled to Spain in 1985 to continue his studies but due to economic hardships he worked as a trader instead.
• He married Fatima al-Zahra in 1987. He is a father of five.
• He became a Spanish citizen in 1988.
• Held a number of jobs in Spain, including teaching Arabic and working in the municipality taxation office of the city of Cueta.
• In 1996, he joined the Arabic service of the Spanish news agency Efe as a translator. During his work there, he started freelancing for Aljazeera.
• In 1999, he joined Aljazeera as their correspondent in Afghanistan and headed the Kabul office for a period of two years before 11 September 2001. During the US war against the Taliban and al-Qaida, he was the only foreign journalist to remain in Kabul and broadcast to the world images of the unfolding events.
• After the US bombing of the Aljazeera office in Kabul, he returned to Doha, Qatar, to continue his work for Aljazeera as a newsroom journalist.
• During the Iraq war in 2003, he went to Baghdad and covered the US-led invasion.
• Alluni has been working with the Institute of Peace and Dispute Studies in Granada since 1996.