NEW YORK, 13 August – RIA Novosti. New York State Police spokesman Eugene Staniszewski said at a briefing that author Salman Rushdie, who was attacked in the United States, is still in the operating room, receiving at least two stab wounds to his neck and abdomen.

Rushdie, 75, was assaulted in New York State before his performance on stage at the institute on Friday. The suspect was detained.

He remembered that Rushdie had been taken by helicopter to a local hospital. “And the operation is still ongoing,” he added.

According to him, the motives of the attacker are still unknown, the police are working on the explanation together with the FBI. The nationality of the detainee is also unknown. There is no evidence of whether he had problems with the law before.

Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses (1988) caused outrage in the Muslim world because it was considered un-Islamic. Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini publicly cursed Rushdie in his fatwa and sentenced him to death. The author had to hide for a long time, his book was banned in many countries. Millions of dollars reward was announced for the execution of Khomeini’s fatwa in Iran.