Pakistani journalist Mushtaq Yusufzai has won the inaugural Kate Webb Award presented by Agence France-Presse (AFP). Mushtaq Yusufzai, 32, who has been wounded by the Taleban and arrested by security forces in pursuit of his stories, won the prize for in-depth reports, analyses and blogs shedding light on the complex region. He said he planned to use the award of 5,000 euros (nearly 8,000 dollars) offered by the AFP Foundation for an international investigation into reports that radical Islamic groups in the West are sending converts to the tribal zones. “One of my biggest desires is to be able to trace who sends these people, who finance their trips from the West to our areas.” AFP, in consultation with Kate Webb’s family, created the annual prize in memory of one of its finest foreign correspondents shortly after Webb’s death from cancer last May at the age of 64. AFP Asia-Pacific director Eric Wishart, who headed the panel of judges, said Yusufzai was a worthy first winner as he has shown great courage in covering one of the most dangerous zones in the world for journalists.
PAKISTANI REPORTER WINS AFP AWARD
Pakistani journalist Mushtaq Yusufzai has won the inaugural Kate Webb Award presented by Agence France-Presse (AFP). Mushtaq Yusufzai, 32, who has been wounded by the Taleban and arrested by security forces in pursuit of his stories, won the prize for in-depth reports, analyses and blogs shedding light on the complex region.
