Suspect’s father refuses to discuss Salman Rushdie assault
2 min read
The father of the person charged with making an attempt to homicide creator Salman Rushdie has refused to discuss the assault.
Salman Rushdie was attacked by Hadi Matar whereas giving a lecture in western New York (Photo: File)
The father of the person charged with making an attempt to homicide novelist Salman Rushdie has locked himself in at his house in southern Lebanon and is refusing to talk to anybody, city mayor Ali Tehfe stated on Sunday.
The suspect in Friday’s assault in New York state has been recognized by police as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey. He has pleaded not responsible. Matar is initially Lebanese and his household comes from the south Lebanon city of Yaroun.
Tehfe stated his mother and father emigrated to the United States and Matar was born and raised there, however his father returned to Lebanon a number of years in the past.
“His father is in the country now but he has locked himself in and is not accepting to give any kind of statement to anyone. We tried with him, we sent people, we went and knocked on the door but he is not agreeing to speak to anyone,” Tehfe informed Reuters.
An official from the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah stated on Saturday the group had no further info on the assault on Rushdie.
“We don’t know anything about this subject so we will not comment,” the official informed Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity.
Hezbollah is backed by Iran, whose earlier supreme chief, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 pronounced a fatwa, or non secular edict, calling upon Muslims to kill Rushdie for blasphemy.
When requested if Matar or his mother and father have been affiliated with or supported Hezbollah, Tehfe stated he had “no information at all” on the political beliefs of the mother and father or Matar.
Indian-born Rushdie, 75, was off a ventilator and his situation was bettering, his agent and a son stated on Sunday.
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