CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was transported by helicopter to a nearby hospital. At press time he was undergoing surgery.
The attacker was restrained.
Hundreds of people in the audience gasped at the sight of the attack and were then evacuated.
Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses” has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous.
The author spent years living in hiding after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran called for his execution in 1989.
