Suspected Salman Rushdie attacker Hadi Matar pleads not guilty

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, Texas (AA) - Hadi Matar, the man accused of stabbing award-winning author Salman Rushdie in the US state of New York, pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple offenses.

Matar, 24, was indicted by a grand jury on second-degree attempted murder and assault. The judge in the case ordered him held without bail.

"His mission to kill Mr. Rushdie is greater in his mind and outweighs his personal freedom," District Attorney Jason Schmidt said in court, according to the Buffalo News.

Rushdie was about to give a lecture last Friday at the Chautauqua Institution when a man jumped on stage and stabbed him repeatedly. The author suffered stab wounds to his neck, stomach, chest and right eye.

Investigators have not released a motive for the attack.

But Matar has said that he respects the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a death fatwa against the Indian-born British author after Rushdie wrote the book, The Satanic Verses.

Matar professed his loyalty in a video released Wednesday by the New York Post.

"I respect the Ayatollah. I think he's a great person. That's as far as I will say about that," he said.