Manama: Kuwaitis have paid rich homage to Redha Al Fili, the prominent media figure who was buried on Monday in the Sulaibikhat graveyard by mourners.
Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammad, the former prime minister, officials and media people were among the numerous mourners who paid their respect at the cemetery on Monday.
“Kuwait has lost one of its most prominent sons who worked in the media sector for decades. He is a dear friend and a brother and we were together in all media sectors for more than 40 years,” Shaikh Nasser said.
Businessman Jawad Bu Khamseen lauded the outstanding attributes of the deceased.
“He has left a great legacy in the media sector and was very active. He worked as the deputy editor in chief of Al Nahar newspaper for eight years, since it was launched,” he said.
Columnists and reports were equally respectful in their homage.
“He is an iconic figure in the media and we all learn from the way he conducted interviews and presented the news,” Hussain Abdul Rahman, from Al Qabas newspaper, said.
Al Fili joined Kuwait Radio in 1959 at the age of 18. He was still a student and his experience was limited to the school radio.
However, thanks to a positive reconciliation of his studies during the day and his work at the radio in the evening and to his determination, he moved forward.
In 1961, he moved to work at the television and gradually moved up until he became the head of news.
He was trained both in Britain and in the US and he received several diplomas. His MA from UCLA was in communications.
He was the head of the technical office for the information undersecretary between 1981 and 1985 before he was promoted to assistant head of television in 1990.
He became later the deputy editor in chief of Al Nahar.
Some of his radio and televisions programmes were hits that attracted large audiences and viewers.
Al Fili got married in 1964 to the late Amal Jaafar and the engagement ceremony was held at the home of Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad, the current Emir, who was then Kuwait’s foreign minister.
Amal was the first woman to present programmes on Kuwait television and Al Fili was her top supporter.
