Salman Rushdie has been unplugged from the respirator and is now able to speak again.
The BBC announces it.
The 75-year-old writer was stabbed just over 24 hours ago during his speech at a convention in New York State and was in serious health.
To confirm the news was also Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, who yesterday had spoken of damage to the liver, to the nerves of an arm and above all the risk that the writer could lose an eye.
Meanwhile, the controversy begins to mount over the lack of protection for a man who has lived for over 30 years under the threat of Islamic extremism.
The White House condemned the "horrific attack" that took place on American soil and made it known that he prays for Rushdie.
No official information on the motive for the attack but the attacker, a 24-year-old born in New Jersey to Lebanese parents, appears to be close to Shiite extremism and Iranian Pasdarans.
The latest update on the conditions of the author of the 'Satanic Verses' dates back to several hours ago.
It was his agent, Andrew Wylie, who gave the information by email.
"The news is not good. Salman is attached to a respirator, at the moment he is unable to speak", said the
agent of the writer revealing that his condition is more serious than one could imagine.
"He He will probably lose an eye, the nerves in his arm have been severed and his liver has been injured and damaged."
Salman Rushdie, Iranians happy for the attack on the writer
After the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the French President Emmanuel Macron, the condemnation of the American President has also arrived.
"Salman Rushdie, with his vision of humanity, with his unparalleled sense of history, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced, represents essential and universal ideals. Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas. fearless. These are the building blocks of any free and open society, "said Joe Biden in a statement.
"Today we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who support freedom of expression," he stressed.
"The United States and the world have seen a horrific attack on writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is frightening," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
"All of us in the Biden-Harris administration pray for his speedy recovery," he added, expressing gratitude to the "good citizens and rescuers who helped Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for their effective work." .
ANSA agency
Fatwa and Bounty, the Curse of 'Satanic Verses' - Politics
'The Satanic Verses' is certainly Salman Rushdie's best known book, but also the one that ruined his life.
From Khomeini to Khamenei a promised revenge, among dozens of deaths (ANSA)
In fact, according to the police reconstruction, it was precisely the people present in the hall of the Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was about to speak, who blocked Hadi Matar before the arrival of the agents.
And this circumstance sparked criticism against the organizers for the lack of security at an event attended by a man who has risked his life since 1989. Many of those present denounced that at the entrance there were neither metal detectors nor bag checks. that a man holding a knife managed to enter and sit in the audience like a normal spectator.
It also emerged that there were only two security officers in the room, one of whom eventually managed to arrest Matar.
Salman Rushdie attached to the respirator, risks an eye
The young man was locked up in the local prison and is accused of attempted second degree murder.
Still nothing, however, on the motive but the trail of Islamic extremism is beginning to make its way.
A social media analysis of the attacker, who was born in California to Lebanese immigrants, reveals a closeness to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard, on the US blacklist of terrorist organizations.
Four photos of Qassem Solemani, the Iranian general chief of special forces Al Quds, armed wing of the Pasdaran, were found in a message app on his phone, killed by an American drone in Iraq in January 2020. And on his Facebook account one photo of Ayatollah Khomeini, author of the fatwa against Rushdie and the man who offered a $ 3 million reward for the death of the writer,
and Ayatollah Khamenei.
Furthermore, during a search he was found a false license in the name of a 'martyr' of Hezbollah, Imad Moghniyé, the military commander of the group killed in 2008 in Damascus.
But the radical Shia movement claims to know nothing about him.
Salman Rushdie attacked in Ny, video on social media
Le moment où l'écrivain britannique Salman Rushdie a été transporté à l'hôpital par hélicoptère après avoir été poignardé au cou alors qu'il prononçait a discours lors d'un événement littéraire in New York.
pic.twitter.com/6PaLd9NnOV
- Hervé Doumbia (@almouslime) August 12, 2022