Let’s celebrate Sudanese media

Al-Gazly claims his show formed Arabs’ ‘visual memory’ Khartoum - Abedalgoum Ashmeag Veteran Sudanese news anchor Omar al-Gazly has called for greater recognition of the work being done by Sudanese broadcasters. His programme, Names In Our Lives, should be included in the Guinness Book of Records after a 2,500-episode run, al-Gazly claimed. “The show has become part of the visual memory of Sudan and the Arab world,” he added. “The programme was interested in documenting icons from across the Arab and Islamic world, featuring art, poetry, literature and politics.” Egyptian poet Abdel Rahman Abnodi, Lebanese singer Farid al-Atrash and Saudi poet Abdullah al-Faisal all joined al-Gazly on Names In Our Lives. The prominent media personality also revealed his meeting with late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, during a delegation led by late Sudanese President Ahmed Mirghani, dubbing the Iraqi leader a “powerful tyrant” but one missed by Arabs across the region. “Saddam was a powerful tyrant but unfortunately by losing him we lost one of our symbols,” al-Gazly claimed. “I asked him why he always wore a military uniform when he was not a military man. Saddam replied that military uniforms fitted his temper.” Al-Gazly has worked in Sudanese media since 1967.