Ayman Mohyeldin

Ayman Mohyeldin (أيمن محيى الدين, ; born April 18, 1979) is an Egyptian-born political commentator based in New York for NBC News and MSNBC.

Previously the anchor of an MSNBC weekday afternoon show, Ayman Mohyeldin Reports (formerly MSNBC Live with Ayman Mohyeldin), he currently hosts Ayman on weekend evenings on MSNBC, and Fridays on Peacock.

He previously worked for Al Jazeera and CNN.

He was one of the first Western journalists allowed to enter and report on the handing over and trial of the deposed President of Iraq Saddam Hussein by the Iraqi Interim Government for crimes against humanity.

His graduate thesis was entitled "The News Media Paradigm in the War on Terrorism," and, in 2002, it was accepted by the International Association of Media Researchers Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

He lived in Iraq from 2003 to 2005 as a foreign news producer with CNN.

Mohyeldin began his career in journalism working at NBC, as a desk assistant for the Washington D.C. bureau.

Mohyeldin's first major assignments happened shortly after 9/11.

In an interview with PRWeek, he describes the opportunities that arose in the aftermath of 9/11: "There was a real shortage of people with language skills or expertise in the Middle East. Just because of my language skills and the timing, so to speak, I got a lot of experience. I was thrown into a mix of things that normally desk assistants at my level would not have gotten. I started working on some big pieces that had to do with investigating 9/11 and all kinds of international terrorist connections... I was doing translation mostly, but I was also developing themes or threads to stories that either had some Middle East connection to them or some type of Arabic language skills required. So it was an unbelievable experience at a really young age."

Mohyeldin's coverage of major news events in the Arab World and Middle East include the Iraq War, the first multi-candidate presidential Egyptian elections in 2005, Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the 2005 Palestinian elections in the Gaza Strip.

He has covered the Sharm al-Sheikh resort bombing (July 2005) and the Jordan Hotel bombings (November 2005).

As a producer, Mohyeldin became the first journalist to enter one of Libya's nuclear research facilities after producing Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi's first interview announcing Libya would abandon all WMD programs.

Mohyeldin's work in the CNN documentary "Iraq:progress report" about the daily struggles of Iraqis during the war was nominated for an Emmy Award.

He served as an associate producer for the NBC News Special that also received Emmy nominations for "Ship at War: Inside the Carrier Stennis" and "Inside the Real West Wing."

Mohyeldin has also covered the annual Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca and was involved in the production of CNN specials "Islam: The Struggle Within" and "Hajj: A Spiritual Journey."

Mohyeldin has also covered the 2008–09 Gaza War as well as the Arab Spring.

Mohyeldin was born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian father, Medhat Mohyeldin, and a Palestinian mother, Abla Awwad.

His father is a certified public accountant in Marietta, Georgia.

Mohyeldin has an older brother, Ahmed, who is a resident neurosurgeon at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and former professional soccer star for the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Mohyeldin lived in Egypt until the age of 5 when his parents emigrated to the U.S. He attended North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Mohyeldin received his undergraduate education at American University in Washington, D.C., earning a BA in international relations with a focus on the European Union.

He received an MA in international politics with a focus on Peace and Conflict Resolution.

In 2008–2009, Mohyeldin covered the Israeli attack on Gaza.

The coverage of his reporting, along with Sherine Tadros has been released in the documentary " The War Around Us".

He reported on the intricate network of tunnels that were once used for smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian-Gaza border and are now a vital route into Gaza for medicine, food and fuel supplies.

In 2011, Mohyeldin left Al Jazeera English and returned to NBC where he extensively covered the second "Arab Uprising" in Egypt in 2013.

He also covered the unrest in Ukraine, and most recently the unrest in Iraq.

Mohyeldin covered the 2011 Egyptian Revolution for Al Jazeera English.

On January 28, 2011, he broadcast from the Al Jazeera news building in Cairo for several hours straight, reporting on the Egyptian protests as protesters and Egyptian police battled for control of the 6th October Bridge.

On January 30, Anis El Fekki of the Egyptian Interior Ministry revoked Al Jazeera's broadcast license and forced the closure of their Cairo bureau, claiming the network was conspiring with opposition groups to overthrow the government.

He was one of five Al Jazeera journalists arrested and briefly detained by Egyptian authorities the following day, after the network refused to cease broadcasting upon the loss of their accreditation.

On February 6, 2011, Mohyeldin was again arrested by the Egyptian military upon trying to enter Tahrir square.

He was released nine hours later.

On September 20, 2011, Mohyeldin rejoined NBC News, where his career began.

In January 2012, Mohyeldin traveled to Syria to cover the months-old uprising.

Among the cities he visited was Daraa.

In the summer of 2013 Mohyeldin extensively covered the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from power In Egypt.

That fall he also extensively covered the Syrian civil war and the effects of refugees overflowing into neighboring Lebanon.

Mohyeldin also covered the agreement of Syria to dispose of their chemical weapons program.

During the uprisings in Ukraine in 2014, Mohyeldin covered extensively in both Kiev and Donetsk.