Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rushdie attacker charged with terrorism linked to Hezbollah

The grand-jury indictment charges Hadi Matar with three terror charges, including carrying out an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah.

Rushdie attacker charged with terrorism linked to Hezbollah

THE man accused of trying to kill the author Salman Rushdie has been charged with terrorism for allegedly acting on behalf of Hezbollah, according to documents unsealed Wednesday (24).

This is the first time the US has so clearly singled out Lebanon's powerful Iranian-backed movement over the attack on Rushdie.


Hadi Matar, a 26-year-old American of Lebanese descent, was already charged by the state of New York for the 2022 stabbing attack.

He has now been indicted by a grand jury on three counts that include attempting to provide material to support a foreign terrorist organization, according to the indictment dated July 17 but not unsealed until now.

In August 2022 Rushdie, now 77, lost his sight in his right eye after the attack by a knife-wielding assailant who jumped on stage at an arts gathering in New York state. Rushdie was stabbed about 10 times.

The Indian-born author, a naturalised American based in New York, had faced death threats since his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was declared blasphemous by Iran's supreme leader.

In 1989, that leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims anywhere in the world to kill Rushdie.

Hezbollah endorsed the fatwa, the FBI said in a statement Wednesday.

"We allege that in attempting to murder Salman Rushdie in New York in 2022, Hadi Matar committed an act of terrorism in the name of Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization aligned with the Iranian regime," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a separate statement.

Between September 2020 and the summer of the attack, Matar sought to provide material support to Hezbollah by trying to carry out the fatwa against Rushdie, the Justice Department said.

The other two counts in the indictment charge Matar with engaging in an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries and providing material support to terrorists.

"The defendant attempted to carry out a fatwa endorsed by Hezbollah that called for the death of Salman Rushdie," said FBI director Christopher Wray.

Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist organization by countries including the US, those of the European Union, Britain and most members of the Arab League.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October, Hezbollah has traded almost daily fire with Israel from southern Lebanon, prompting fears of a broader regional conflict.

Matar is awaiting trial at the state level in New York on charges including attempted murder and assault. He has pleaded not guilty, and could face a sentence of up to 25 years if convicted.

US media reports say the trial could start on October 15.

Matar has told the New York Post newspaper that he had only read two pages of Rushdie's novel but believed he had "attacked Islam."

The award-winning author was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at the New York literary conference before attendees and guards subdued the assailant.

Rushdie had lived in seclusion in London for the first decade after the fatwa was issued, but for the past 20 years he lived a relatively normal life in New York.

This year, Rushdie published a memoir called Knife in which he recounted the near death experience.

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes programme in April, Rushdie told how one of the surgeons who saved his life had said: "First you were really unlucky and then you were really lucky."

"I said, 'What's the lucky part?' and he said, 'Well, the lucky part is that the man who attacked you had no idea how to kill a man with a knife,'" Rushdie said.

(AFP)

More For You

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 30, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

BRITISH police said they arrested five people on Saturday (30) after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum-seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.

Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy (L) and Narendra Modi

Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Modi's office said.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address on Saturday (30), said Modi supported Ukraine's call for a ceasefire in the war with Russia and hoped that notion would be heard at the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

India's prime minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, August 31, 2025. India's Press Information Bureau/Handout via REUTERS

Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was committed to improving ties with Beijing in a key meeting with China's president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional security forum on Sunday (31).

Modi is in China for the first time in seven years to attend a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East in a show of Global South solidarity.

Keep ReadingShow less
wasim bashir

Bashir retired from the force while under investigation but will still face misconduct proceedings. (Photo credit: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Former West Yorkshire Police officer jailed for misconduct

A FORMER West Yorkshire Police officer has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison after being convicted of misconduct in a public office.

Wasim Bashir, 55, who worked as a detective constable in Bradford District, was found guilty of one count of misconduct in a public office for forming a sexual relationship with a female victim of crime. He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, 29 August.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

Protesters calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel, which was housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping on August 8, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Over a dozen councils plan legal action despite Home Office court win

Highlights:

  • Court of Appeal has overturned injunction blocking use of Epping hotel for asylum seekers.
  • Judges say human rights obligations outweigh local safety concerns.
  • At least 13 councils preparing legal action despite ruling.
  • Protests outside the Bell Hotel lead to arrests and police injuries.

MORE than a dozen councils are moving ahead with legal challenges against the use of hotels for asylum seekers despite the Home Office winning an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Keep ReadingShow less