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Osama Saeed

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Osama Saeed (born 27 May 1980) is a Scottish communications professional and politician. Formerly he was Head of Media and Public Relations at Al Jazeera Media Network, and was a parliamentary candidate for the Scottish National Party in Glasgow Central in 2010. He is of Pakistani descent.

Background

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Saeed was born and brought up in Glasgow to Pakistani parents on 27 May 1980 and went to school in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire.[1] He was an advisor to former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and a prominent media figure. He has been listed as one of Scotland's Top 100 thinkers and opinion formers by the Scotsman newspaper, one of the country's "Brightest and Best" by the Sunday Herald, and has been described as "Scotland's most influential Muslim" by the Sunday Times. The Evening Times referred to him in 2010 as one of the SNP's "bright rising stars".[2] His blog, "Rolled up Trousers" was named top Scottish political blog in 2007.[3] He is also an alumnus of the US State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. After an attempt to be elected to the House of Commons in 2010, Saeed joined Al Jazeera in Qatar.

Al Jazeera career

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Saeed manages Al Jazeera's global communications,[4] and his tenure has seen the network's strongest period of worldwide publicity. He was responsible for promoting the network's coverage of the Arab uprisings which won global plaudits, and culminated in awards including Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year and a Peabody. That year, Al Jazeera English also won a DuPont, a George Polk, and a Four Freedoms Award.

He coordinated the noted #freeajstaff press freedom campaign after Al Jazeera journalists were jailed in Egypt, a campaign which won an award in issues management.[5][6] He has organised brand campaigns around the world - including in the United States, Australia, India, MENA and sub-Saharan Africa[7] - and is a speaker at international PR conferences.[8][9]

Views and activities

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After the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, Saeed organised what is considered to be the first ever Muslim-organised demonstration against Al-Qaeda terrorism in the world.[10] In March 2008, he called for legislation to be enacted against forced marriages,.[11] The Scottish Government announced a consultation on the issue a few months later, and law was passed in 2011.

In 2009, Saeed organised the response[12] to the far-right Scottish Defence League holding protests in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Along with lawyer Aamer Anwar, he brought together a broad coalition called Scotland United to stage a celebration of multiculturalism including the STUC, Church of Scotland, Equality and Human Rights Commission, all the major political parties and many others.[13] He also organised a response to the attack by two Muslims youths on an Edinburgh synagogue by offering to protect the building.[14]

Osama had a role in the Stop the War Coalition, speaking at the anti-war demonstration on the eve of the Iraq war on 15 February 2003 which drew 1 million marchers. He was formerly a volunteer spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain in Scotland, and before Anwar Al-Awlaki openly embraced terrorism, he called for his release from incarceration in Yemen.[citation needed] Years before the Arab uprisings, Saeed was a proponent of democracy and freedoms in the Muslim world.[15] He wrote a 2005 article in The Guardian suggesting that the restoration of a caliphate[16] could be based on democracy and human rights in response to comments by prime minister Tony Blair saying that it was the preserve of Al Qaeda. In 2009, Saeed said that Islamism was “irrelevant”, and that laws and public policy have to be made by leaders accountable to the people they govern.[17]

Saeed founded the Scottish-Islamic Foundation which was launched with cross-parliamentary backing in June 2008. The leaders of the SNP, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties gave their support.[18]

Saeed's time at the Scottish-Islamic Foundation was dogged by allegations of cronyism after the organisation was awarded hundreds of thousands of pounds of grants by the SNP Government, the party for whom he was a parliamentary candidate. The funding was investigated by Audit Scotland who concluded that the appropriate procedures were followed in allocating the grant.[19] The grant was provided to organise an Islamic cultural festival and a trade expo to attract investment from the Muslim world. Saeed suggested that Scotland hold a 'Tartan Week' in the Middle East to increase trade and investment.[20] After delays in delivery, the SIF returned much of the funding, but organised Salaam Scotland, Scotland's first national festival of Muslim cultures.[21] An independent auditor's report found no issues in the way Scottish Government grant money was accounted for.[22] Saeed resigned from the SIF in February 2010 before contesting the General Election in May 2010. The SIF closed in January 2011.[23]

In the 2010 General Election he stood as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Central. He finished in second place, improving the party's third place from the previous election and increasing their share of the vote by 2.7%.[24] His campaign concentrated on opposing public spending cuts proposed by the Conservative and Labour parties,[25] connecting Scotland to the high-speed rail network to London and Europe,[26] and attracted high profile endorsements.[27][28][29] First Minister Alex Salmond said of Saeed: "I don't think I've ever met anyone better suited to face down the rigours of Westminster and to make a presentation of principle for his community and for his country. I've never met anyone better endowed with the qualities required to be an outstanding member of parliament."[30]

Electoral history

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2010 general election

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General election 2010: Glasgow Central[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Anas Sarwar 15,908 52.0 +3.8
SNP Osama Saeed 5,357 17.5 +2.7
Liberal Democrats Chris Young 5,010 16.4 −1.4
Conservative John Bradley 2,158 7.1 +0.8
Scottish Green Alastair Whitelaw 800 2.6 −2.3
BNP Ian Holt 616 2.0 −0.4
Scottish Socialist James Nesbitt 357 1.2 −2.8
UKIP Ramsay Urquhart 246 0.8 +0.8
Pirate Finlay Archibald 128 0.4 N/A
Majority 10,551 34.5 +4.1
Turnout 30,580 50.9 +7.1
Labour hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ Muslims are also Scots, so treat us the same Archived 19 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Scotsman, 17 December 2007
  2. ^ The trio battling it out to succeed Sarwar, Evening Times, 29 April 2010
  3. ^ Dale, Iain (19 September 2007). "Guide to Blogging 2007: Top Twenty Scottish Blogs". Iain Dale's Diary. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Osama Saeed on LinkedIn".
  5. ^ "2015 SABRE Awards EMEA Winners". www.provokemedia.com.
  6. ^ "#FreeAJStaff: Al Jazeera's head of media shares the inside story of the campaign for press freedom – and livelihoods". The Drum.
  7. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  8. ^ Report, The Holmes. "#PRovoke20 | Global PR Summit 2020". events.provokemedia.com.
  9. ^ "Kinsale put on Shark alert as adland's finest gather for prestigious awards". herald.
  10. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  11. ^ Call for forced marriage debate, BBC News, 24 March 2008
  12. ^ Campaigners stage antiracism demo in Edinburgh, BBC News, 20 February 2010
  13. ^ "Scotland United". Scotland United.
  14. ^ Edinburgh imams condemn synagogue attack, SIF blog, 20 March 2009
  15. ^ "Osama Saeed speech at Scottish-Islamic Foundation launch". YouTube. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  16. ^ Saeed, Osama (1 November 2005). "Osama Saeed: The return of the caliphate". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  17. ^ "Speech on Islamism". 22 September 2009.
  18. ^ "Call for action on Muslim youth". 26 June 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ^ "My answer was not evasive. It is...: 29 Apr 2010: Scottish Parliament debates". TheyWorkForYou.
  20. ^ Muslim Scots launch 'Tartan Week' in the Middle East, Sunday Herald, 12 July 2009
  21. ^ "Salaam Scotland Festival". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  22. ^ "Socialist Unity | Debate & analysis for activists & trade unionists". Archived from the original on 1 May 2014.
  23. ^ "Islamic lobbying group with links to SNP faces closure". HeraldScotland. October 2012.
  24. ^ Glasgow Central
  25. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  26. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  27. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  28. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  29. ^ "osamasaeed.org". www.osamasaeed.org. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  30. ^ "Alex Salmond endorsing Osama Saeed". YouTube. 29 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  31. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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