Sandy Gall honoured for Afghanistan charity work

Sandy Gall, a Reuters correspondent half a century ago, is made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in Britain's New Year Honours for his decades of charity work supporting disabled Afghans.

Gall, 83, was with Reuters for 10 years from 1953 covering the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, and the Congo Crisis 1960-1963. He then went on to become a foreign correspondent for ITN.

Several of his books and documentaries are about Afghanistan, the most recent being A Passage to Nuristan: Exploring the Mysterious Afghan Hinterland published in 2006.

In 1986 he founded the Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal which has provided artificial limbs and walking aids for more than 20,000 people and physiotherapy for more than 50,000. ■