Author Salman Rushdie attacked on stage at event in New York - witness

Author Salman Rushdie, who was ordered killed by Iran in 1989 because of his writing, was attacked on stage at an event in New York, a witness told Reuters.

A man rushed to the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and attacked Rushdie as he was being introduced, the witness said, adding the attacker was subsequently restrained. Rushdie’s condition was not immediately known.

"We are dealing with an emergency situation. I can share no further details at this time," a Chautauqua Institution spokesperson said when contacted by Reuters. The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme religious leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, on the writer on February 14, 1989, calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie because of perceived blasphemy against Islam in his fourth novel, "The Satanic Verses."

Iran later backed away from the order and Rushdie has lived relatively openly in recent years.

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