Stockholm - Italian author Roberto Saviano and British- Indian author Salman Rushdie at a lecture organized by the Swedish Academy on Tuesday shared their experiences of living under death threats.

Both authors have been threatened for their writings and were protected by a handful of security guards in the Grand Hall of the Swedish Academy's headquarters located in Stockholm's Old Town.

Horace Engdahl, permanent secretary of the academy that selects the Nobel literature prize winner, said the two were "not victims" and lauded their efforts to "strengthen the cause of freedom of speech."

The 1989 death threat issued by Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini against Rushdie over his novel The Satanic Verses had "highlighted fundamentalism," Engdahl said.

He threats against Saviano for his book, Gomorra, by the mafia, or Camorra, in Naples were "a privatization of repressive violence," Engdahl said in his introduction.

In their remarks, both Saviano - speaking in Italian - and Rushdie touched on their reactions of anger and sorrow over allegations that they had sought "the limelight" or in Saviano's case had wanted to "vilify my own country" over their writings.

Saviano said his initial response when he learned of the threats against him were that it was "unjust".

"Your own words have taken away your freedom, your freedom to walk, to exist," he said.

Rushdie recalled an earlier meeting with Saviano in New York and told the 450-strong audience, including a handful of members of the Swedish Academy, the Italian ambassador to Sweden and publishers how his years with police protection had enabled him to immediately "spot police officers" in hotel lobbies and other public spaces.

Writers living under death threats also had to struggle with "how to lead a life," Rushdie said, noting how practical details like booking an airline ticket or finding a secure house took up a lot of time.

Rushdie said he feared there was "a narrowing of boundaries" about what was allowed to be said or discussed in the public domain.

Khomeini's 1989 threat, proclaimed in a so-called fatwa, triggered a heated debate in the academy and led to a split.

Two of the 18 members, who are appointed for life, gave up active work to protest the academy's decision not condemn the death threat.

One of the protesting members, author Kerstin Ekman, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa after the lecture that she welcomed the initiative to host the two authors.

"I also admired that both Saviano and Rushdie had been able to keep their sense of humour," Ekman said.