UAE award voices ‘regret’ after German philosopher rejects prize

ABU DHABI: The UAE’s Sheikh Zayed Book Award said on Monday it regretted prominent German philosopher Juergen Habermas’ decision not to accept its "Cultural Personality of the Year" prize.

The 91-year-old had reversed an earlier decision to accept the one-million-dirham ($272,000) prize, saying he had been unaware of its links to the government. According to a statement sent to Der Spiegel by his publisher, Suhrkamp, Habermas saw his initial acceptance of the award as "the wrong decision which I am now putting right". "I hadn’t informed myself about the close link between the institution that gives these prizes in Abu Dhabi and the political system there," he added.