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Veteran British overseas correspondent Robert Fisk has passed away at the age of 74.
The journalist and author was reportedly admitted to St Vincent Hospital in Dublin after feeling unwell on Friday. A source at the Independent, where Fisk was a Middle East correspondent, confirmed the news of his death.
Fisk was admitted to hospital after suffering a suspected stroke, according to an Irish Times report.
Described by the New York Times in 2005 as “probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain”, Fisk won many prestigious awards throughout his career for his coverage of the Middle East.
These included the Orwell Prize for Journalism and multiple awards at the British Press Awards in the categories of International Reporter of the Year and Foreign Reporter of the Year.
After starting his career on the Sunday Express, Fisk moved to the Times, where from 1972 to 1975 he was a newspaper correspondent in Belfast at the height of the Northern Ireland riots.
In 1976 he moved to Beirut, where he began his career as a Middle East correspondent, covering the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
He joined the Independent in 1989 and remained its correspondent in the region until his death, covering events such as the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein and the recent wars in Syria. He also reported on the Bosnian and Kosovo wars in the former Yugoslavia.
He is fluent in Arabic and was one of the few Western journalists to interview al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, which he did three times during the 1990s.
He was a controversial figure, known for his criticism of the United States. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, he faced backlash after asking what had motivated those responsible for the attacks.
Fisk also wrote books on Northern Ireland and the Middle East, including Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War and The Great War for Civilization, in which he chronicles “the betrayals, treachery, and deception of Middle Eastern history.”
Fisk had ties to Ireland dating back to his reports during the riots, after which he completed a doctorate at Trinity College. Among other honorary degrees and awards, he received the gold medal from the Trinity College Dublin Historical Society in 2009.
In response to news of his death, Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, tweeted: “Saddened tonight to learn of the death of journalist Robert Fisk. He was fearless and independent in his reporting, with a deeply researched understanding of the complexities of Middle East history and politics. It helped many people better understand those complexities. RIP”
