Hadi Matar, the man accused of stabbing Sir Salman Rushdie has reportedly said he has only read two pages of the author’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses.
Mr. 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.
Mr. Matar also told the newspaper he was “surprised” to hear that Sir Salman had survived the attack.
“I don’t like the person. I don’t think he’s a very good person. I don’t like him very much,” Mr. Matar said, according to the paper. “He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Matar’s mother said she had disowned her son after his alleged behavior. “I’m done with him,” Silvana Fardos said on Monday, adding: “I have nothing to say to him.”
Despite his “life-changing” injuries, the Booker Prize-winning author has retained his “usual feisty and defiant sense of humour”, his family said earlier this week.
On Friday, a number of literary figures will read from his works on the steps of New York’s public library to show solidarity with the novelist.
Tina Brown, Paul Auster, Kiran Desai, Andrea Elliott, Hari Kunzru, and Gay Talese will be among those taking part in Stand With Salman: Defend the Freedom to Write.