London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Our job at Asharq Al Awsat is to cover the latest news from around the world. Everyday, we speak to our correspondents and colleagues in our international offices over the phone, we make inquiries, we blame some, we yell at others. “Where is the story we have been waiting for? Where is the latest news we are expecting? What about journalistic integrity?” This is a glimpse into our daily routine. Thursday July 7, 2005 was different. London was reeling from four separate explosions, with one bomb ripping a bus apart in Russell Square a few blocks away from our offices.

Who to blame and who to speak to about the attacks? This monumental event was taking place right before our eyes. It had all the elements of a good news story. After the first explosion, at 8:50 am , it became impossible to use mobile phones, complicating things further. By 11:15 am, landlines were functioning again.

The first phone call I received was from Adil Ellithy, Head of Administration of Saudi Research and Publishing Company, our publisher, in London . He immediately asked, “Abu Abdel Aziz, are you ok?” I answered, “Yes, what about Osman Mirghani?” The explosions occurred around the time of the Deputy Editor in Chief”s daily commute. “He is fine and already in the office” Ellithy said, adding, “Let me connect you to him.”

We spoke on the phone and I asked about his family. “They are worried”, Mirghani said, in his typically brief manner. “Will it be possible to publish tomorrow?” I asked. “Let me make sure our editorial staff are safe first”, he told me. I made my way to the office an hour later and immediately met my Deputy who said our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Faisal bin Salman was trying to contact me. I called the Prince who wanted to know how we were. “We’re all fine”, I said. He replied he’d already contacted my family first and assured himself they were all well but was concerned about the safety of the staff. I assured him everyone was safe, including the ones who had stayed at home but we had managed to contact.

Dr. Azzam al Dakhil, General Manager and Deputy Executive Director of Saudi Research and Publishing Company also called our offices in London , asking after the staff and informing us of the readiness of our offices in Saudi Arabia to follow the newspaper’s emergency plan and cover for problems in the production process in London , adding that he will keep following the situation. A few minutes later, the Deputy General Manager Tarik Algain called from Riyadh who told me, “Abu Abdel Aziz, we are ready to issue the newspaper and print tomorrow’s edition from Frankfurt and Riyadh … I just thought I’d let you know.” All I could reply was “thank you.” “How are you”, he asked? I laughed and said I was fine. Here was a colleague whose calmness in times of crisis was exemplary.

Around 1:30 pm , I chaired a meeting with Mirghani, Mshari Al Zaydi, Muwafaq Al Nowaisir in my office. “Abu Yasmin, can Asharq Al Awsat appear tomorrow?”, I asked my Deputy. “Certainly, I will send the pages that are ready for production. Algain has suggested the section on Saudi news should be produced in Saudi Arabia ”, he answered. I started off by saying that since Asharq Al Awsat is published from London , our coverage of the blasts should be comprehensive. On Friday, the entire Arab World will be expecting us to provide a detailed account of each of the four explosions, their significance of London and the country and the long-term consequences of this heinous act.

We decided to exclude all comments and opinion pieces which did not mention the bombings. We asked Dr. Ahmed al Rabei, Adel Darwish, Amir Taheri to analyze the attacks. Mshari al Zaydi suggested we ask Rashid al Khayoun to write an article. “Could he come to our offices?” I asked. The insight of our freelance contributors and their sharp analysis would enrich the newspaper and highlight issues that might have been otherwise overlooked in our coverage. I was comforted by al Zaydi’s assertion that Khayoun was already on his way. Indeed, he wrote an incisive article, entitled “Did the dolphins desert London on this bloody morning?” I asked our caricaturist in Jordan, Amjad Rasmi, to send us a drawing fit for the occasion.

Only then did we begin planning Asharq Al Awsat’s news coverage of the attacks. We argued with each other whether our Friday supplement, a weekly round up of the news, should be published. I said that, given that many editorial staff were unable to reach our offices, we should focus all our energies on the 10 pages dedicated to the blasts. Three additional pages were devoted to other news from around the world, especially the assassination of the Egyptian Ambassador in Iraq , Ihab al Sharif. After lengthy deliberations, everyone agreed on a plan to meticulously report on the violence in London. The plan was as follows:

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Dima Rashid, the Picture Editor kept an eye on all the pictures of the blasts distributed by news agencies and categorized them.

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Mohammed Alkhereiji reported on any Arab or Muslim victims across the city’s hospitals.

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Iyad Abu Shakra, Head of the Research Unit, wrote an article on the British Underground. Another colleague prepared a story on the history the deployment of British Army troops in city across the Kingdom.

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Mshari al Zaydi wrote an article on the Islamic groups in London and edited the Opinion page. Another colleague wrote about the history of explosions in the capital.

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Jocelyn Elia followed public reactions in markets, cafes, and restaurants in Central London.

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Abdel Latif Jaber reported on the scenes in Edgware Road, one of the city’s neighborhoods best loved by Arabs. Another colleague followed the Metropolitan Police and government”s reactions.

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Atta Abdul Karim designed a map pf London highlighting the locations of all 4 explosions.

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Mshari al Zaydi wrote an article discussing the different versions of al Qaeda, such as “al Qaeda in Europe”, “al Qaeda in the Country of the Two Rivers”.

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Walid Abi Mershid followed international reactions.

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Muwafaq al Nowaisir reported on the response of British residents in the Persian Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He also followed the reactions of Saudi citizens.

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Salah Jamil covered the murder of the Egyptian Diplomat in Iraq. He also wrote an article contrasting the happiness of Wednesday when London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and the shock and horror of the following day.

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Usama Namaan reported on the latest developments in the British media.

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Ali Saleh, unable to come in to the office followed the latest developments in the Palestinian Territories from the comforts of his own home. He also wrote a story on the loss of mobile phone reception early Thursday morning and contacted different mobile phone operators.

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Hafiz Kabbani, Head of Translation and his colleague Rida Daher wrote a story on London’s emergency plans.

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Ghalib Darwish covered the economic effects of the blasts on the stock markets.

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A full page was devoted to the G8 Summit, underway in Gleneagles. Our British Affairs correspondent Ammar al Jundi was in Scotland covering the meeting.

Manal Lutfi, the Editor of the Weekly Review section devoted herself to the latest developments and supervised, alongside the Deputy Editor in Chief the politics pages. I was responsible for the front page news and updated the accounts of our correspondents and kept a close eye on the news agencies. The Business Editor, Mahmud Hassan, who drove from the outskirts of London, parked his car as close as possible, and took a taxi to the office as many roads in the center were closed, made Herculean efforts to produce a detailed account of the economic impacts of the bombings. Muwafaq al Nowaisir also supervised our correspondents and monitored local Saudi news, published from Riyadh for the first time.

Production Manager Imam Mohammed Imam and his assistant Masoud Lawa Ismail checked the production schedule and the printing arrangements. Abdullah al Mahdi, Head of the Computer Unit ensured the website was functioning and all technical problems were resolved. Rana Feghali and Karima Sbitri updated the English language website.

The day went by… and what a day it was! With each story written, we became slightly more at ease. Staff members completed their work diligently. Some journalists were interviewed over the phone by Arab satellite channels and asked to analyze the latest events in London. Our presence in the capital and the availability of specialist journalists attracted Arab stations. We all worked tirelessly to give our readers the latest updates and analysis of events around the city. In times such as these, people are more interested in investigation than mere reporting, especially since breaking news is splashed across television networks.

In the evening, at 6:30 pm , I chaired a second meeting with the Deputy Editor in Chief, Arts Editor Adel Naaman and his assistant, and Muwafaq al Nowaisir to design the 10 pages devoted to the coverage of the attacks, as well as the front page.

We decided to design all the pages at once to avoid any mistakes and duplication and to ensure the coverage of the blasts was unified and all encompassing. We were short of staff and unsure if news coverage would progress smoothly.

During the meeting, a picture of a woman suffering from severe burns whose face was covered by a white cloth. It was a poignant image. My Deputy jokingly said, “Is there no democracy at Asharq Al Awsat?” after he noticed I had selected it for the front page. Adel Naaman, busy drawing the page, suddenly turned around and asked, “Do you want this collection of pictures for the front page?” “Pictures, front page, what did you just say?” Osman al Mirghani burst out laughing, “I don’t think there will be pictures on the first page, or will there?” I replied, “Asharq Al Awsat will have one story on the first page and one picture, according to my veto powers as an Editor in Chief.” We all laughed and decided on the story, selected the picture and decided on the headlines for the murder of the Egyptian Ambassador and the negative reaction of the stock market, as well as the titles for the comments.

It was a horrible day indeed, full of mix feelings, suppressed until after we left the offices at 10pm to start the long journey home to join our loved ones impatiently awaiting our return.

The team agonized over the headline for the front page. Despite the attacks baring the hallmarks of al Qaeda, the British government’s refusal to mention the name made us reluctant to refer to it. By the end of night, as the British Foreign Minister Jack Straw spoke of al Qaeda’s involvement, we agreed on the following headline: al Qaeda’s fingerprints in London’s bloody morning.

Asharq Al Awsat appeared the next day as usual and we were all proud of our dear green pages. Readers might ask, not without reason, why I am narrating editorial decisions on that fateful Thursday. To put it simply, I could not find a better way to thank my colleagues. Another issue, of no less importance, is that Arab journalists tend to forget that the best stories are those left unsaid, or what is known in the Western media as “the untold stories”. Generally, the Arab media itself is one big untold story; this is an attempt to unravel one of the smaller stories.