The Washington Post’s Kareem Fahim named Middle East bureau chief

For now, Kareem will remain based in Istanbul but will travel frequently and will work closely with Sarah Dadouch, our Beirut-based correspondent. He will work in partnership with other bureau chiefs based in Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad and Istanbul.

With his deep experience across the region and a reputation for leadership within our Middle East team, Kareem is well-suited to take on a broader role. He covered the U.S. invasion of Iraq for the Village Voice and spent five years covering the Arab Spring uprisings and their aftermath as a Cairo-based correspondent for The New York Times, before joining The Post in 2016 as Istanbul bureau chief. He has reported extensively from across the region, including in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Syria.

His work for The Post has chronicled the struggles of Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe and the vast network of people, from drivers to nightclub owners, who profit from their passage; the devastation caused by airstrikes, on families in Mosul and children in northern Syria; the authors, journalists and mayors who populate Turkey’s bursting prisons; the ship pilots who navigate the Bosphorus Strait and the faint footsteps of James Baldwin, who found solace in 1960s Turkey.

In 2018, Kareem led on-the-ground coverage from Istanbul that produced eye-opening evidence of Saudi Arabia’s responsibility for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

He is a graduate of Occidental College and Columbia University. An Arabic speaker, he spent 11 years as a staff reporter at The Times and several years as a freelance writer and staff reporter at the Village Voice. He grew up in Palo Alto, California, and Kuwait and was a longtime resident of New York City.

Kareem will continue to cover Turkey and Iran in the months ahead.