Novelist Salman Rushdie says no longer fears Islamic death threat

British author Salman Rushdie no longer fears for his life because of the death threats issued against him by Islamic clerics in response to his book “The Satanic Verses” nearly 20 years ago, he has said in Portugal.

“I don’t see what happened as a publicity tool for my books. And if anyone doubts that, I strongly encourage that person to experience what I lived through,” he added, according to the paper.

Rushdie was forced into hiding for a decade after Iran’s late Ayatollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or opinion on Islamic law, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie because the book allegedly insulted Islam.  In 1998, the Iranian government declared it would not support but could not rescind the fatwa.

Since then his life has gradually returned to that of a literary star, with frequent foreign travel for speeches and public appearances.

Link to the Yahoo News article