{"id":166281,"date":"2016-08-10T13:51:21","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T08:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=166281"},"modified":"2016-08-10T19:57:47","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T14:27:47","slug":"ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranil&#8217;s Mobile Phone Operator Iqbal To Lead PM&#8217;s Media Delegation To China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>M.H. Iqbal, an officer attached to the Prime minister&#8217;s office, has been assigned to lead the PM&#8217;s media delegation to China.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_166286\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/iqbal-3\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-166286\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-166286\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-166286\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"M.H. Iqbal\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal-800x798.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-166286\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">M.H. Iqbal<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Colombo Telegraph learns that Iqbal has no media experience and, at one point, has functioned as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ranil+Wickremesinghe&amp;x=11&amp;y=5\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/span><\/a>&#8216;s mobile phone operator.<\/p>\n<p>Iqbal currently functions as a Secretary attached to the Prime Minister Media Unit. The Prime Minister&#8217;s office confirmed Colombo Telegraph that Iqbal would lead the PM&#8217;s media delegation to China.<\/p>\n<p>Informed sources from the Prime Minister&#8217;s office told Colombo Telegraph many had raised eyebrows over the decision to assign Iqbal to lead the delegation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He has zero media experience and cannot communicate in English. Although he is currently attached to the PM&#8217;s media unit, he does not have a specific job role. It will be interesting to see how he handles the task,&#8221; an official from the PM&#8217;s office, who wished to remain anonymous, said.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit China over the weekend to discuss about a wide range of matters with the Chinese authorities.\u00a0<strong><em>(By Thilini Karawita )<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":166286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ranil&#039;s Mobile Phone Operator Iqbal To Lead PM&#039;s Media Delegation To China - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ranil&#039;s Mobile Phone Operator Iqbal To Lead PM&#039;s Media Delegation To China - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-10T08:21:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-10T14:27:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"958\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/\",\"name\":\"Ranil's Mobile Phone Operator Iqbal To Lead PM's Media Delegation To China - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-10T08:21:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-10T14:27:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ranils-mobile-phone-operator-iqbal-to-lead-pms-media-delegation-to-china\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/iqbal.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":958,\"caption\":\"M.H. 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