Sawt Falasteen - Salman Rushdie testifies at knife attacker's US terror trial

Hadi Matar, a 28-year-old Lebanese-American, was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison by New York state's justice system for the attempted murder, which left Rushdie blind in one eye.

He is now standing trial on terrorism charges before a federal court in Buffalo, in northwestern New York.

Prosecutors allege that Matar was motivated by a fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran, issued in 1989 following Rushdie's depiction of a fictionalized Prophet Muhammad in his novel "The Satanic Verses."

They also accuse Matar of supporting Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement that the United States considers a terrorist group, as investigators found materials from the organization at his home.

Asked Thursday if he believed Matar was motivated to carry out the fatwa, Rushdie replied: "I had no knowledge of that. I have my suspicions," according to US media.

Rushdie lived in seclusion in London for a decade after the 1989 fatwa, but for the past 20 years -- until the attack -- he lived relatively normally in New York.

He spoke in court for nearly an hour about the assault that saw Matar stab him about 10 times with a six-inch blade as Rushdie was about to address a free-speech conference.

Matar's defense lawyers said he never acted on behalf of any terrorist organization, even if he was angry about the blasphemous nature of "The Satanic Verses."

If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison.

E.Aziz--SF-PST