New Jersey Police officers stand guard near the building where alleged attacker of Salman Rushdie, Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey, US, August 12, 2022. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
MAYVILLE, New York: Salman Rushdie is "on the road to recovery,” his agent confirmed Sunday, two days after the author suffered serious injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York.
The announcement followed news that the writer was removed from a ventilator Saturday and able to talk. Literary agent Andrew Wylie cautioned that although Rushdie's "condition is headed in the right direction,” his recovery would be a long process.
Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, Wylie had previously said, and was likely to lose the injured eye.
The suspect, Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault at a court appearance on Saturday, his court-appointed lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, told Reuters.
Rushdie, who was born in India and has lived in Britain and the US.
His book "The Satanic Verses” drew ire and was banned in many counties and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989.
Matar was born in the United States to parents who emigrated from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, village mayor Ali Tehfe told The Associated Press.
