Prominent writer Salama Ahmed Salama died of a severe heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 80.
The funeral service will be held on Thursday afternoon.
Salama began his journalistic career at Akhbar Al-Youm, moving to state-run newspaper Al-Ahram in 1969. For many years he served as the paper’s chief editor and wrote his daily column “Close-up” before moving to privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper, where he also worked as the editor-in-chief.
Salama became a member of the Journalists Syndicate's board in the 1990s. During the 2011 January revolution, he served on the "Committee of Wise Men" formed to try to mediate between protesters and the government, along with others such as legal expert Ahmed Kamal Aboul Magd, former Arab League Chief Amr Moussa.
Arguably one of the most influential Egyptian writers in recent years, Salama was known for his liberal inclination and defense of freedoms.
In 2009, he published an important book titled "Journalism on a hot tin," in which he discussed a number of journalistic issues and their relationship with social and political mobility in Egypt.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
