The death of the veteran journalist was confirmed by his wife, Noraini Shariff.

“Innalilahi wainna ilaihi rojiun. My husband Ahmad Rejal Arbee returned to rahmatullah at 2am today,” she posted on Facebook.

Ahmad Rejal was the former editor-in-chief of Bernama and former group editor of Berita Harian.

He joined Bernama as a senior editor in 1969 before being deployed to Jakarta, Indonesia, as the agency’s first overseas correspondent in 1973.