Salman Rushdie has had a bounty placed on his head since 1989, when the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeni issued a fatwa ordering Rushdie killed for a blasphemous interpretation of the prophet Muhammad.
Time passed. The Ayatollah died of old age, people moved on, and the fatwa sort of existed in a form of non-existence. Only the man who issued the fatwa can remove the fatwa, and with the Ayatollah long dead, ehhh...looks like that fatwa's going to remain for awhile, even if it's not pursued.
One Iranian, Hassan Sanei--who leads a religious organization, and inspired by uprisings sweeping the Middle East--is seeking to change this lethargy surrounding the fatwa on Rushdie. Senai has added $500,000 to the tally on Rushdie's head. This extra $500,000 brings the total bounty on Rushdie to $3.3 million.
Rushdie's response? "I'm not inclined to magnify this ugly bit of headline grabbing by paying it much attention," he told the Los Angeles Times, paying attention to the ugly bit of headline grabbing and magnifying it.
photo: Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times
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