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Author of Ambushed: A War Reporter's Life on the Line and Former Associated Press Bureau Chief for West Africa While the story of journalist Daniel Pearl's demise unfolded in the media, Ian Stewart, former AP bureau chief for West Africa, was having deja vu. While covering a rebel assault on Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, in January 1999, he was ambushed, shot in the head and left for dead. Ambushed: A War Reporter's Life on the Line chronicle Stewart's miraculous rescue and three-year recovery. Ian Stewart was appointed chief of the Associated Press's West Africa bureau in 1998. During his ten-year career, Stewart had worked and lived in more than 40 countries, including Afghanistan, the former Zaire, Sierra Leone and Cambodia. He has first hand experience witnessing the atrocities of war; pregnant women slaughtered, children trained to kill, grown men horribly executed. But his belief that by telling the stories of war, he could raise public awareness pushed him to continue and hope that his work would help to end the needless suffering he witnessed everyday. Ian's life was permanently shattered one fateful day in Freetown, the capitol city of Sierra Leone, where he was covering the country's struggle with civil war. While reporting on the devastating action, Stewart's vehicle was fired upon by rebel forces. The brutal attack killed a fellow reporter instantly but left Ian with a bullet in his brain, fighting for his life alone in the African heat. After being air-lifted to London and undergoing countless operations, Ian was forced to struggle for several years to recover from this nightmare encounter. Ian Steward book, Ambushed, not only recounts his personal struggle of recovery, but also enlightens the reader on the unimaginable violence and human tragedy that occurs during times of war. A sought-after commentator on Africa and war reporting, Stewart has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC's Primetime Thursday, and CNN's Crossfire. His reporting in Africa has been cited as a finalist for numerous writing awards, including the French-based Bayeux Award for war correspondents. In October 2000 he won The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) Award for feature writing. << back to speakers |
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