NEW YORK: Ali Salem, Egyptian author and an outspoken critic of radical Islam, will be awarded the 2008 Civil Courage Prize, the Train Foundation said in a statement Thursday.
Salem, who has penned 25 plays and 15 books including My Drive to Israel, which documents his 1994 car trip to the Jewish state across the Sinai desert, will be awarded the $50,000 prize in London on November 19, the statement said.
The 72-year-old author has been an outspoken advocate for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and an isolated voice for tolerance in the region, the statement said.
His works have been banned in Egypt; he has been expelled from his country s Writers Union and subject to threats.
The Civil Courage Prize, given to people who have demonstrated steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk, has been awarded annually since 2000 by the Train Foundation, formerly the Northcote Parkinson Fund.
The US ambassador to the United Kingdom, Robert Tuttle, will host the award ceremony. -AP
