Riaz Khan

Riaz Khan (Muhammad Riaz Khan) works for The Associated Press at Peshawar, capital city of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. He is a senior journalist of the North West Frontier Province who is responsible for the coverage of the events taking place in the North Western Pakistan and the volatile tribal areas on the border of Afghanistan. Riaz Khan has a good command and superb knowledge of the issues, especially the growing trends of militancy, terrorism and extremism in this most volatile and sensitive region not only in Pakistan but the present day world also.

He is a courageous journalist who travels so frequently to the troubled and dangerous tribal areas to cover and report the ongoing war against terror and the insurgency. He did Matsters (MA) in Literature and Political Science. He has attended a large number of professional training courses/seminars/workshops including, Course on Investigative Journalism in US State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program and Course on First Aid and Working in Hostile Environment at Centurion, Heckfield England. Fluent in Pushto, Urdu and English languages and has understanding of Persian and some other regional languages.

Riaz Khan works/contributes to several national Dailies and interviewed by national and international TV and radio networks including VOA on the issues related to the war on terror, militancy and extremism in the region. He coordinated the production of BBC World TV's documentary “Islam’s Year Zero” in October 1996. It was the first ever extensive coverage of the Taliban and their opponents in the north. It was filmed in the North-Western Pakistan and Ningarhar, Laghman, Kabul, Parwan, Mazar Sharif and Jozjan provinces of Afghanistan. He also worked as coordinator with CNN team led by Mr. Peter Bergen in the production on Arab-Afghans (Al-Qaida) in November 1998 after the missile strike.

He has several awards and distinctions including The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) Award, the highest journalistic prize of Pakistan and Best Journalist Award from Rotary International, North-Western Pakistan chapter.

Riaz Khan has the membership of several national and international professional associations. He has Served as elected President of Peshawar Press Club, the epic body of the journalists (with membership of more than 350 media professionals) in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan for two consecutive terms in 2007 and 2008. While presently he is the Vice Chairman of Pakistan-Afghanistan Independent Media Association (PAIMA) an association of the media professionals of both these countries since April 2008. In these capacities he has played a very important role for the promotion of objective journalism and welfare of the journalists in this most dangerous and volatile region of the present day world. Riaz Khan can be contacted through his cell 0092 300 8596236 and Email mriazkhan786@yahoo.com.