Al Jazeera.net co-founder and cartoonist Shujaat Ali dies aged 54

A pioneer of digital cartoons, Ali was credited with creating the first animated caricatures online. He also worked at a number of media outlets in his native Pakistan and abroad, receiving several awards for his work. He died last week after suffering a heart attack as he returned home from work.

He was buried in Qasimabad in Rawalpindi, where his parents are also buried. Ali was Pakistan’s first court artist, documenting the course of a number of well-known cases using his pencil and skills. Before returning to his homeland, he had worked at Al Jazeera for many years.

He contributed as part of the founding team of Al Jazeera Arabic’s online services, developing cartooning to utilise the potential of the digital platform. Ahmed El Amraoui, an editor at Aljazeera.com, said, “I had the privilege of working with Shujaat during the early days of Aljazeera.com .