Suspected Rushdie attacker 'surprised' that author survived

NEW YORK • The New Jersey man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie told the New York Post in an interview published on Wednesday that he was "surprised" the author had survived the attack.

"When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess," Hadi Matar, 24, told the tabloid, which said it held a video interview with the jailed suspect.

The suspected assailant has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.

He did not say if he was inspired by the 1989 edict, or fatwa, issued under Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that ordered Muslims to kill the writer for what he deemed the blasphemous nature of the book, The Satanic Verses.

"I respect the Ayatollah. I think he's a great person. That's as far as I will say about that," said Matar who, according to the Post, was advised by his lawyer not to discuss the issue.

Matar told the paper he had "read a couple pages" of Mr Rushdie's novel. "I don't like the person. I don't think he's a very good person," he said of the author. "I don't like him. I don't like him very much. He's someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems."

Matar said he is not in contact with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He said he had learnt Mr Rushdie would speak at Chautauqua Institution's literary series via a tweet earlier this year. He told the Post he had taken a bus to Buffalo one day prior to the attack, before taking a Lyft ride to Chautauqua in New York.

"I was hanging around pretty much. Not doing anything in particular, just walking around," he told the paper. "I was just outside the whole time."

Last Friday as Mr Rushdie was set to deliver a talk as part of a lecture series, a man stormed the stage and stabbed him several times in the neck and abdomen.

Mr Rushdie was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for life-threatening injuries.

The 75-year-old's condition remains serious but he was taken off a ventilator, and has shown signs of improvement.

Matar told the Post he had watched YouTube videos of Mr Rushdie speaking, and called the author "disingenuous".

On Monday Matar's mother, Lebanese-born Silvana Fardos of Fairview, New Jersey, described Matar as "a moody introvert" who became increasingly fixated on Islam after visiting Lebanon to see his estranged father, in an interview with Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

Matar is set to appear in court today.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE