Mike Hanna

Mike Hanna's picture
Mike Hanna
Presenter and Correspondent | Qatar
Biography

Mike Hanna is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years' experience He's received awards from the Royal Television Society(RTS) and the British Academy.  He is also a recipient of the Bayeux War Correspondents Award and the US Cable ACE Award.  He has been honored by New York Association of Black Journalists and in 1995 was awarded the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting.    

Latest posts by Mike Hanna

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on July 23rd, 2011
Demonstrators chant slogans during a protest in Tunis July 7 [Reuters]

There’s been much reporting in the past week about a faltering revolution in Tunisia - about looming sectarian battles, confrontation with police, impatience at the speed of change, and derision at what are regarded as show trials of a president in exile.

Its accurate to say Tunisia has not had the best of times recently. The forcible end to demonstrations last Friday worried many, the shooting of a young boy in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid brought back memories of the violence that accompanied the revolution that began there, and the curfew that is in force in many parts is an all too uncomfortable reminder that things are far from normal.

Tags: Tunisia
By Mike Hanna in Africa on May 18th, 2011

It is a point of conflict in recent weeks has faded from international focus.

Yet three months after the uprising began, opposition forces and those loyal to Muammer Gaddafi are still facing each other across a stretch of sandy no-man's land some 30km west of Ajdabia.  

In recent weeks the opposition forces have tightly controlled access to the frontline in the east of Libya. 

Commanders on the ground wary of the real time live coverage that at one point they believe threatened their operational security. 

An Al Jazeera team was granted access to the area at the invitation of the Az Zawiyah Brigade, which has been at the forefront of the conflict since the beginning of this revolution.

Ninety per cent of the brigade are volunteers, some retired army officers who returned to service, but the vast majority those who at the beginning of the year were civilians going about their normal lives.

Morale in the unit remains

By Mike Hanna in Americas on December 1st, 2010
Photo by EPA

Much has been reported about the details of the cables that were sent from US embassies around the world to the state department in Washington - the content ranging from the highly informative to what some ex-diplomats describe as little more than political gossip.

But embarrassing as some of the revelations might be, the most politically damaging document did not come into state department - it was sent out.

Most of the traffic originating from the embassies consists largely of reported facts or offering personal opinion and interpretation, but what originate from state department are instructions, commands and policy.

The secretary of state herself has made this point inadvertently. In her first public response, Hillary Clinton argued strongly that no matter how sensitive the information from diplomats, it did not reflect the views of the US government.

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on September 29th, 2010
Photo: Reuters

There have been some strange events at podiums in the United Nations: Khrushchev banging his shoe, Yasser Arafat appearing with a gun on his waist, Muammar Gaddafi brandishing the UN charter and throwing it contemptuously aside.

The latest in line is an Israeli foreign minister outlining the policy of his domestic political party, one completely at odds with the government he represents.

Avigdor Lieberman is an oddity as foreign minister. His political views are regarded as hard-line even by Israeli standards. Not only does he chose to live on a settlement in the occupied West Bank, but he is also the most vocal advocate of the settler cause.

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on September 1st, 2010
Photo by AFP

From the viewpoint of those living in Iraq, there's a special irony to the fact that the young senator who opposed the US occupation of Iraq is now the president who says he's committed to ending it - fulfilling a campaign promise that was rooted, he said, in its honest conviction that the war was wrong.

When Barack Obama became commander-in-chief, he assumed responsibility for a military force that was involved in two major wars - Iraq and Afghanistan.

The two wars have played a major role in defining his presidency to date, particularly as their execution came at a time of severe economic downturn.

The unilateral deadline to reduce the number of US forces in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of this month has been met - and the occasion used by the president to make a rare speech to the American people from the Oval Office.

He made the point that it was from the same chair that George Bush declared the beginning of the war in Iraq seven and a half years ear

By Mike Hanna in Africa on March 30th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Flanked by a phalanx of bodyguards the Libyan leader walked to the podium to take over the presidency of the Arab League. 

It is seldom that personal security has been quite so evident in a forum such as this, the opening of the summit meeting of the organisation taking place in Muammer Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

Yet in his opening address the Arab world's longest serving leader made clear that no amount of protection could shield leaders from a growing public expectation and demand.

"We can no longer hide or seek refuge behind our security apparatus," he said. "Because they have become futile in the face of popular uprising and resistance."

The apparent contradiction between word and action is part of the complex person that is Gaddafi. A man who through decades has continued to surprise, shock and anger with a series of controversial pronouncements and deeds. 

By Mike Hanna in Africa on March 26th, 2010

The Arab League Summit is being held in Libya this year by default.  

The venue of the conference is determined on a rotational basis among the organisation's 22 members.

This year it was Iraq's turn to host the summit meeting: however it was mutually agreed that this might not be an appropriate time.

Next in the roster was Djibouti: but this Republic in the Horn of Africa decided to opt out as host, and so in rotation the summit came to Libya.

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on March 4th, 2010
Photo by Omar Chatriwala

As expected an escalation in violence as the first phase of the election process got underway. A series of attacks on polling stations in Baghdad demonstrated there are those intent on disrupting this crucial exercise in democracy. The attacks came as hundreds of thousands throughout Iraq cast early votes: among them the police and army officers who will be deployed in the national elections on Sunday, along with the doctors who will be on duty in hospitals.

If the intention was to dissuade voters from going to the polls all indications are that it will not succeed. Amidst the attacks in Baghdad the turnout in the special voting was reported to be high, and generally there is an air of anticipation about a process that differs from any before.

Tags: Iraq
By Mike Hanna in Africa on February 10th, 2010
AFP photo

A few months before Nelson Mandela's release, we undertook a fascinating news exercise.

We commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of what he might look like based on images that were current before his imprisonment, and also using eyewitness descriptions from the very few who had seen him in prison (notably his then wife Winnie and an opposition member in the whites only parliament, Helen Suzman).

We then took the image into Soweto and asked passers-by whether they recognised this man. Nobody did.

Twenty years after Nelson Mandela's release, it seems unthinkable that at one stage few knew what he looked like.

Draconian regime

This fact is a very strong illustration of how powerful and draconian the apartheid regime really was.

The African National Congress and a number of other organisations were banned in 1960.

By Mike Hanna in Africa on February 7th, 2010
Reuters photo

The image that stuck with me that bright February morning was never filmed or photographed.

A pair of white police officers were watching a video feed from parliament just over the cobble-stoned street from where they were standing:  FW De Klerk's face filled the screen and I heard the words "unconditionally free Nelson Mandela" - the more senior officer shook his head miserably and said to the man next to him - "dit is die einde van ons volk": it is the end of our people.

The De Klerk government had retained a tradition established by that of PW Botha, De Klerk’s predecessor.

Advance draft

At the opening of parliament in February each year, the international media representatives in South Africa would be herded into a large conference room over the road from parliament and given an advance draft of the president's speech.

Al Jazeera Live

Biography

Mike Hanna's picture
Mike Hanna
Presenter and Correspondent
Mike Hanna is an award-winning correspondent with more than 30 years' experience.

What's Hot


Recent Comments

This work is licensed under Creative Commons. Please read our attribution policy.