Mohammed Al-Sager

{{Short description|Kuwaiti journalist and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager | image = | alt = ar | caption = Mohammed Al-Sager | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1951|06|18}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | office2 = Member of the National Assembly of Kuwait | majority =  | term_start2 = 1999 | term_end2 = 2009 | predecessor =  | successor =  | office = Chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry | term_start = 2020 | term_end = Present | other_names = | known_for = founder of ''Al-Qabas'' and ''Al-Jarida'' | occupation = banker, journalist, politician | alma_mater = Whittier College | party = National Democratic Alliance | native_name = محمد جاسم الصقر | office1 = Chairman of the Arab Parliament | term_start1 = 2005 | term_end1 = 1999 | native_name_lang = ar }}

'''Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager''' ({{langx|ar|محمد جاسم الصقر}}; born 18 June 1951) is a Kuwaiti journalist, businessman, and politician.

==Background== Al-Sager received a bachelor's degree in economics from Whittier College (California, US) in 1975.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.usmep.us/international_board/Mohammed_Jassem_Al_Sager.php|title=International Board: Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager|publisher=US/Middle East Project|access-date=7 June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130305012048/http://www.usmep.us/international_board/Mohammed_Jassem_Al_Sager.php|archive-date=5 March 2013}}</ref> He then worked for five years at the Industrial Bank of Kuwait, where he became Corporate Finance Manager.<ref name="bio"/> In 1980, he left the bank to become Chairman and Managing Director of Coast Investment & Development Co.<ref name="bio"/>

==Journalism== In 1983 he began working as a journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of ''Al-Qabas'' (English: "The Firebrand"), a daily newspaper.<ref name="CPJ">{{cite web |url=http://www.cpj.org/news/1998/kuwait25june98.html |title=CPJ Deplores Sentencing of Two Journalists by Kuwait |date=25 July 1998 |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref> He continued in the role until his election to Parliament in 1999.<ref name="bio"/> In 1992 he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists "for courageous reporting on political and human rights issues in the face of government threats of censorship and prosecution".<ref name="CPJ"/>

Along with colleague Ibrahim Marzouk, he was sentenced to six months in prison in 1998 on charges of "insulting the essence of the Divine Being", following the publication of a joke on ''Al-Qabas''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Entertainment" page: "Why did God expel Adam and Eve from paradise? Because they did not pay the rent."<ref name="CPJ"/> The newspaper was also closed for one week.<ref name="CPJ"/> The Committee to Protect Journalists protested the men's sentences,<ref name="CPJ"/> which were overturned by an appeals court in January 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cpj.org/2000/03/attacks-on-the-press-1999-saudi-arabia.php |title=Attacks on the Press 1999: Saudi Arabia |date=22 March 2002 |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref>

==Political career== Al-Sager served in the National Assembly of Kuwait from 1999 to 2009.<ref name="AMF">{{cite web |url=http://www.arabmediaforum.ae/en/speakers/2008/speaker/mohammed-jasim-al-saqr.aspx |title=7th Arab Media Forum 2008 speakers |date=25 July 1998 |publisher=Arab Media Forum |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref> While political parties are technically illegal in Kuwait, Al-Sager affiliates with the liberal National Democratic Alliance party.

From 2005 to 2009, he also served as Chairman of the Arab Parliament,<ref name="AMF"/> in which role he worked with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to promote a reconciliation between battling Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/arab-parliament-stages-hamas-fatah-reconciliation-bid-1.224958 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104171349/http://www.haaretz.com/news/arab-parliament-stages-hamas-fatah-reconciliation-bid-1.224958 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2012 |title=Arab Parliament stages Hamas, Fatah reconciliation bid |author=Deutsche Presse-Agentur |date=25 July 1998 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref>

Al-Sager is also a member of the General Secretariat of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.<ref name="AMF"/>

In May 2009, Al-Sager joined several other Kuwaiti MPs in declining to run for re-election to the Kuwaiti National Assembly. Al-Sager stated that he believed the next parliament would "also fail to implement the awaited reforms", these being an economic stimulus bill and a boost to the country's infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merip.org/mero/mero070809 |title=The Day After "Victory": Kuwait's 2009 Election and the Contentious Present |author=Mary Ann Tétreault and Mohammed Al-Ghanim |date=8 July 2009 |publisher=Middle East Research and Information Project |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref>

In April 2020, Al Sager was elected Chairman of the board of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=koein |title=UNION OF ARAB CHAMBERS |url=https://uac-org.org/en/news/details/2352/الصقر-رئيسا-جديدا-لغرفة-تجارة-وصناعة-الكويت |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=UNION OF ARAB CHAMBERS}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sager, Mohammed}} Category:1951 births Category:Kuwaiti journalists Category:Living people Category:Members of the National Assembly (Kuwait) Category:National Democratic Alliance (Kuwait) politicians