Author Salman Rushdie talks about 'living day to day'

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February 14, 1997
Web posted at: 7:15 p.m. EST (0015 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Author Salman Rushdie has been on the run for exactly eight years, living a secretive life in Britain and traveling only under the strictest security.

It was eight years ago, on February 14, 1989, that the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a "fatwa" or religious death sentence for blaspheming Islam in his novel "The Satanic Verses."

Khomeini's call to Muslims around the world to kill Rushdie has been protested by governments and writers' and human rights groups, but to no avail.

Earlier this week, the 15 Khordad Foundation of Iran raised the bounty on Rushdie's head from $2 million to $2.5 million if he were killed during the 10-day celebration of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The celebration ended Monday.

And before prayers at Tehran University campus Friday, worshippers chanted, "The apostate Salman Rushdie must be executed."

In an interview with CNN, Rushdie discusses his years of hiding, his struggle for self-respect and of "living day to day."

 

Related story:

• Iran will not drop Rushdie's death sentence - February 18, 1996

Related sites:

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• Salman Rushdie - Subir Grewal
• "The Satanic Verses"
• A tale of discontent

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