Police protect Italian author Saviano and Rushdie

Roberto SavianoStockholm - Italian author Roberto Saviano and British- Indian author Salman Rushdie were due Tuesday to discuss "Freedom of speech and lawless violence" in Stockholm's Old Town.

Both authors have been threatened for their writings and were under police protection. The discussion was organized by the Swedish Academy, the body that selects the Nobel literature prize.

The Academy said some 450 people were to attend the discussion Tuesday evening.

Saviano's book, Gomorra, has angered the mafia, or Camorra, in Naples. He has been forced to live under police protection and in a recent newspaper interview said that he was considering leaving Italy.

A movie based on his book was also to be screened at the ongoing Stockholm Film Festival.

Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 issued a death threat against Rushdie over his novel The Satanic Verses. (dpa)

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