‘The Italian’ not banned in the UAE

Dubai: A book by the Tunisian university administrator and author Shukri Al Mabkhout, which won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, is not banned in the UAE and is available in some book stores according to an official.

The Italian has not been banned in the UAE, said Ebrahim Al Abed, general manager of the National Media Council, who said there was an issue with the date of its submission for review.

“The book was not banned, we didn’t ban the book. We received the book for review and approval one day before the book fair, so we didn’t have time to review it. This was the reason it didn’t get approval until now, because of the timing, not because it was banned,” said Al Abed.

A Borders staff confirmed the book has been on display for a month in their stores.

“The Italian has been on display for a month. We haven’t heard anything about it being banned. The book is available in Arabic at our stores,” said the clerk.

A Kinokuniya store employee said that they would be receiving the book very soon. “There were some delays in receiving it, which might be linked to the confusion about the ban. However, the book should be available by next week or latest the week after.”

The owner of Zain Al Ma’ani, the distributors of The Italian, also denied the book was banned.

Tariq Al Khajah, owner of Zain Al Ma’ani said, “The book was never banned, but its release was delayed a wee bit — that’s all.”

The debut novel of Shukri Al Mabkhout has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. The Italian is the eighth winner of the $50,000 (Dh182,000) prize known as the ‘Arabic Booker’.

Claims that the book has been banned in the UAE were first published by a western newspaper. According to the report, which quoted a manager of The Italian’s publisher, the book has been banned for unknown reasons in the UAE.

“This is just not true. It is an exaggeration. I don’t know from where they got this information. The Italian is freely available in the UAE,” said Nabil Saleh of University Library in UAE.

Talking about the book, Mourid Barghouti, IPAF judging chair, said: “The Italian brilliantly depicts the unrest both of the small world of its characters and the larger one of the nation.”