New York, Aug 18 (IANS) The man who stabbed Salman Rushdie on stage at an event in New York has said he was "surprised" to learn that the renowned Indian-born author was alive following the attack.
Hadi Matar, 24, said Rushdie, 75, was "someone who attacked Islam" but did not confirm that his actions were driven by a fatwa issued by Iran in the 1980s, reports dpa news agency.
Matar pleaded not guilty through his lawyer to charges stemming from the assault and is currently being held at Chautauqua County Jail, in New York state.
He is due to appear in court again on Friday.
Speaking to the New York Post in a video interview from jail, he said: "When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess."
Matar said he had originally planned to go to the event at the Chautauqua Institution after seeing a tweet announcing Rushdie's appearance.
"I don't like the person. I don't think he's a very good person. I don't like him very much. He's someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems."
Rushdie published his famous novel "The Satanic Verses" in 1988, which resulted in then Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa, or edict, calling for his death in 1989.
But Matar told the New York Post he had only read "a couple of pages" of the book and did not say whether the fatwa had inspired him.
"I respect the Ayatollah. I think he's a great person. That's as far as I will say about that," he said.
It comes as the moderator of the event said his concern is for the writer "himself, but also what he means in the world".
Despite his "life-changing" injuries, the novelist has retained his "usual feisty and defiant sense of humour", his family has said.
The author suffered a damaged liver as well as severed nerves in an arm and an eye, but was taken off a ventilator on August 13.
The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government -- one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.
One of the great mysteries of the coronavirus is how quickly it rocketed around the world. It first flared in central China and, within three months, was on every continent but Antarctica, shutting down daily life for millions.
A story of one Afghan girl is gaining widespread attention on social media. When the Taliban came to kill her parents, she took matters into her own hands, bursting from her home brandishing an AK-47 and killing two of the Taliban men.
Because it's 2020, anyone anxious about this year's presidential election has a new problem to worry about: the possibility that a defeated Donald Trump won't be willing to leave the West Wing.
Some heartbreaking news a reporter of Indian origin who worked for New York’s CBS affiliate CBS2 was killed Saturday after falling from one of the rented mopeds that have become increasingly popular in a city still not keen on using traditional mass transit.
