Salman Rushdie attack: suspect charged with attempted murder

The man suspected of stabbing the novelist Salman Rushdie at a literary festival in western New York on Friday faces charges of attempted murder and assault, authorities said on Saturday.

Attempted murder is the more serious of the two counts. The crime, under New York law, can carry up to 25 years in prison upon conviction.

Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to the right front of his neck, another four to his stomach, one each to his right eye and chest, and a cut to his right thigh, the local district attorney, Jason Schmidt, said on Saturday.

A helicopter crew flew Rushdie to a hospital in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery. He remained hospitalized Saturday and appeared likely to lose one eye after the nerves in an arm were severed and his liver was stabbed, his literary agent told media outlets.

The man sharing the stage with Rushdie was 73-year-old Ralph Henry Reese, who runs an organization that provides sanctuary to writers under threat of political persecution. He suffered a relatively minor facial wound during the attack.

New York state police detained Matar at their barracks before booking him into the Chautauqua county jail late Friday. A judge ordered him held without bail, Schmidt added in a statement.

The Satanic Verses was published a decade before Matar was born to parents who emigrated from Lebanon. But, according to reports, his social media activity suggests an admiration of Iran and an attraction to Shia extemism.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report