'When I heard he survived, I was surprised': Salman Rushdie's attacker - Report
He also expressed his displeasure with the 75-year-old author who has faced death threats - over the years - for writing "The Satanic Verses', which has been accused of blasphemy.
Days after author Salman Rushdie suffered serious stab wounds after he was assaulted in New York, the man - accused of attacking him - has said that he was surprised that Rushdie survived. "When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess," 24-year-old Hadi Matar told the New York Post.
He also expressed his displeasure with the 75-year-old author who has faced death threats - over the years - for writing "The Satanic Verses', which has been accused of blasphemy. However, he also clarified that he was not inspired by the 1989 edict, or fatwa, issued under Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against Rushdie. "I respect 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. In the first interview since the attack, Matar also said that he has read "a couple of pages" of the controversial book. "I don't like the person. I don't think he's a very good person," he said.
He described Rushdie as "someone who attacked Islam". He attacked their (Muslims') beliefs, the belief system," Matar added in the interview. Rushdie, 75, was stabbed Friday while attending an event in western New York. He suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, his agent said. He was likely to lose the injured eye. His condition is still serious while he is off ventilator. Matar was arrested immediately after the attack from the venue and was handed over to police. He is charged with attempted murder and assault and has pleaded not guilty in the court. He is now set to appear in court on Friday.
'Outside the whole time'
In the New York Post interview, Matar also said that he had learnt Rushdie would speak at the 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 to Chautauqua. After this he was "hanging around pretty much, not doing anything in particular... just walking around," Matar said.
'Increasingly fixated on Islam'
On Monday, Matar's mother, Lebanese-born Silvana Fardos of Fairview, New Jersey, gave an interview to a local British daily. In the interview, she described Matar as "a moody introvert" who became increasingly fixated on Islam after visiting Lebanon to see his estranged father.
(With AFP inputs)
