‘Threats are pretty much over.. life is relatively normal’
Salman Rushdie’s thoughts on fatwa TWO WEEKS before attack
SIR Salman Rushdie, who was last night battling horrific injuries from a knife attack, was no longer living in fear of the death threat against him.
The Satanic Verses author, stabbed on a US stage on Friday, was speaking just two weeks ago when he said the 1989 fatwa ordering Muslims to kill him was pronounced long ago – and his life was now “relatively normal”.
The brave long-time fighter for freedom of expression also called himself an optimist, saying: “I prefer to look ahead.”
His interview with German magazine Stern was published early yesterday after the attack on Mr Rushdie, 75.
He is on a ventilator in a Pennsylvania hospital after being stabbed 15 times.
His agent Andrew Wylie said: “Salman will likely lose one eye. The nerves in his arm were severed and his liver damaged.”
Shocking footage has emerged showing medics battling to apply pressure to Mr Rushdie’s wounds after the stabbing at New York’s Chautauqua Institution, as audience members look on.
Police yesterday charged Hadi Matar with attempted murder in the second degree and assault.
The California-born 24-yearold bought a pass to attend Mr Rushdie’s interview. He reportedly had a fake driver’s license in the name of Hassan Mughnaiyah, a former Hezbollah leader, killed by the CIA in 2008.
A source said Matar is sympathetic to Shi’ite extremism and Iran – where a reward of more than £2.3m is on offer to anyone who kills the author. Mr Rushdie spent a decade under police protection after former Iran leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, passed the fatwa against him.
It came after the 1988 publication of The Satanic Verses – which is partly inspired by the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, and is branded blasphemous by some Muslims.
Boris Johnson said he was appalled at the attack on his friend. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was an attack on liberty and freedom.
Islamic groups also condemned the horror, but Iranian state media celebrated it.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter author JK Rowling yesterday said police were investigating after she received a death threat from an Islamist extremist account when she expressed her horror at the attack on
Mr Rushdie.