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Rami Ruhayem

Correspondent for the BBC, based in Beirut

Rami began his career in media at Naharnet, a Lebanese English-language news website, in 2002. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he also worked at the Associated Press, monitoring Arabic-language media and relaying exclusive content to the AP bureau in Doha. He moved to London in 2005 to work for the BBC Arabic service, at first as an online producer. His task was to write news for the website and to produce it online. He then moved to BBC Arabic radio, also as a producer, and began going on reporting trips for Arabic radio and online in 2007. His first trip was to Arbil, in northern Iraq. He later covered events in Gaza following the 2008/2009 war, and did some long-format reporting for radio from Darfur, and from the Amazon rainforest prior to the Copenhagen climate change summit.

In London, Rami moved between different departments in the BBC on attachments, serving, among other positions, as Arab Affairs analyst at the BBC World Service. As the BBC began emphasizing bilingual reporting from its language service journalists, Rami started reporting for English and Arabic outlets, for Television, Radio and online. He was based in Baghdad for almost two years between 2011 and 2013, and then he started reporting on Syrian affairs from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Geneva, Rome, Iraq and Damascus. He also reported from Benghazi, Libya, in 2011.

Rami studied media at the Lebanese University and graduated with a License (equivalent to a BA) in 2004.