Bombed Lebanon anchor wins award
By Sebastian Usher
BBC world media correspondent
A Lebanese television journalist who was badly maimed in a car bomb attack last year has been awarded Unesco's annual World Press Freedom Prize.
The attack on Mai Chidiac was one of several against leading Lebanese journalists following the assassination of former Prime Minister RafiK Hariri.
The $25,000 (£13,600) prize is awarded each year on World Press Freedom Day.
It is named after Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano who was killed after denouncing his country's drug barons.
The violence and instability in Lebanon that followed Mr Hariri's killing in February last year has been felt particularly hard by journalists.
Two of Lebanon's most respected journalists were killed by car bombs. They were the reporter Samir Kassir and the editor of An-Nahar - the newspaper he worked for - Gebran Tueni.
Both are seen by many in Lebanon as martyrs in the cause of freeing the country from Syria's long domination.
Ms Chidiac was also targeted by a car bomb last September. But she survived, although she was badly injured, losing one of her hands and a leg.
For several years, she had been one of the best-known faces on Lebanese television.
She presented outspoken talk shows on the station LBC, which challenged the political status quo - particularly Syria's all-pervasive influence.
She, and other Lebanese journalists, played a big role in the pro-democracy movement that erupted onto the streets after Mr Hariri's death and was instrumental in forcing Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...st/4968460.stm
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Many congrats to May and hope to see you back on TV soon. Cheers.
May Chidiac Wins an Award & is back to lebanon -
4th May 2006
Re: May Chidiac Wins an Award -
5th May 2006
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Re: May Chidiac Wins an Award -
8th May 2006
