Dawn’s former news editor Jamil Akhtar passes away

KARACHI: Jamil Akh­tar, a former news editor of daily Dawn, passed away on Sunday, according to the family. He was 79.

Mr Akhtar remained associated with journalism for half a century and worked for various news organisations in former East Pakistan, China and the UAE as well as Pakistan in senior positions.

He was admitted to Zia­uddin Hospital on March 14 after suffering from some chest problem and died at 8.10pm on Sunday, said his son, Muhammad Altamash.

He is survived by his widow and two sons.

Namaz-i-Janaza will be held at Sultan Masjid in Phase V, DHA, on Monday (today) after Asr prayer.

Jamil Akhtar started his career at Dhaka with the Morning News. Later, he worked for a radio network in China for several years. He joined Khaleej Times as its news editor in 1979 and remained there till early 2000s. He joined Dawn as its news editor in 2004. He retired in 2016.