someone who s been out there unafraid despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life. iran s then spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini issued a fatwa a death threat against the novelist in 1989, after the publication of his fourth novel, the satanic verses. there d been mass protests by muslims across the world against a book inspired by the life of the prophet muhammad. sir salman went into hiding for ten years, burned in effigy from the streets of islamabad to london. in recent years, sir salman s been a more visible presence, after the iranian government distanced itself from the fatwa. what happened today is a stark reminder that the threat of violence never went away. katie razzall, bbc news. more now on the attack on author salman rushdie in the us. our security correspondent said the threat has continued ever since. it
fatwa do not have any expiry date. death sentences don tjust disappear, but because of that, relaxation, if you like, by the iranian government itself, mr rushdie had been living in increasingly public life. he had moved to new york city, he had become an american citizen back in 2016, he could be found at some big, well known american literary events. this was not someone who was hiding, he was hiding in plain sight, and had been doing so for several years now. i think that is why people are so shocked, really, that this has happened in. so shocked, really, that this has happened in- so shocked, really, that this has hauened in. ~ . , ., ~ happened in. michelle fleury, thank ou ve happened in. michelle fleury, thank you very much- happened in. michelle fleury, thank you very much- i happened in. michelle fleury, thank you very much. ijust happened in. michelle fleury, thank you very much. ijust wanted - happened in. michelle fleury, thank you very much. i just wanted to - you v
be remembered. that is anne heche, whose death has been announced. let s get more on that attack on salman rushdie, stabbed while preparing to give a lecture at the literary festival in chautauqua in new york state. he went into hiding after a fatwa was issued against them. earlier i spoke to journalist and film maker mobeen azhar, who made a documentary which examined the effect of salman rushdie s novel the satanic verses. i remember meeting sam and rusty about four years ago at a book signing, and it felt in many ways at that point, although it lingered for many years and we heard in the package there, that fatwa, that egypt, did not have a date to expire i remember meeting salman rushdie. even though that was considered, it felt that salman rushdie can live as a free man, and
after ukraine was declared too dangerous to host it. while we await a update on the author salman rushdie, i want to bring a couple of bits of detail from numbers of the audience. this is from a lady called julia, who was attending the event, and she says, i thought at first that he was a microphone that the man was fixing, but then he started stabbing mr rushdie, so we saw knives. the first was right into his neck, and then like lower in the shoulder blades. mr rushdie, i think he got up and started running to the back of the stage, but the attacker pinned him on the ground and then people from the audiencejust ran on the ground and then people from the audience just ran onto the stage, and then mary newsom, a local, was in the audience, said there was a giant collective gasp. nobody was screaming, you re just in shock. this is a very peaceful