Rushdie Death Sentence 'Renewed'

Contactmusic News:

The religious edict condemning author Salman Rushdie to death for his controversial novel The Satanic Verses will remain "forever", Iran's official news agency reports. The book, which caused a furore in the Muslim community for its depiction of the prophet Muhammad, saw the Booker Prize winner slapped with a fatwa in 1989, forcing him to spend years in hiding. READ MORE

And today (February 14, 2006) Rushdie's sentence was reinforced by an extremist group still outraged by the author's 'blasphemous' themes.

The announcement comes on the anniversary of the proclamation issued by the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The daming edict reads: "I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death."

Iran's Martyrs Foundation confirmed, "Imam Khomeini's fatwa on the apostate Salman Rushdie will remain in force for eternity."

The organisation has offered a $2.8 millon (GBP1.5 million) bounty for Rushdie's head.