The Jeddah-based International Islamic News Agency (IINA)
has given the thumbs-up to Bernama Arabic copies, saying it reflected the
agency’s standing as the leading news agency in the region.
Zayed
Abdullah, who heads IINA Arabic subs desk, said the agency disseminated
Bernama’s stories to 20 Arab countries daily.
“Bernama
is among the top news agencies among Islamic countries,” he said.
“From
our observation, there are news agencies of Arab countries which took stories directly from Bernama Arabic as
many were not able to translate
stories from English,” said Zayed who is on holiday in Malaysia.
He
took the opportunity to visit Bernama
and met with Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zulkefli Salleh.
The
33 year-old editor said IINA was keen to have closer rapport with Bernama.
“Malaysia is an important reference for many
Arab countries,” he said.
Established
in 1972, IINA is a specialized organ under the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC).
It
publishes news in Arabic, English and French with focus on news about the
Islamic world and Islamic affairs of the 57-strong OIC.
Zayed
voiced interest for Bernama’s help to conduct a translation workshop of Arabic
news to English.
“We
can discuss whether to have the workshop either in Jeddah or Kuala Lumpur,” he
told Datuk Zulkefli.
He
said there were some member countries who needed assistance in either Arabic or
English.
They
also discussed the possibility of having an attachment programme for Bernama
Arabic sub-editor to be stationed at IINA headquarters in Jeddah.
Zayed
said the duration of the programme could be discussed as Saudi Arabia provided visa for up to three months stay.
He
likened such attachment to the phrase – “Give a man a fish and you feed him for
a day; show him how to catch fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The
person on attachment would also be able to broaden his networking as he would
get to know journalists from other news agencies, said Zayed who has been with
IINA for the last eight years.
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