A New Jersey police officer stands guard near the building where alleged attacker of Salman Rushdie, Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey, U.S., Aug. 12, 2022. (Credit: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
BEIRUT — The director of Lebanese General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, told L'Orient-Le Jour on Saturday morning that he did not know "for the time being" whether Hadi Matar, the man who allegedly stabbed author Salman Rushdie was of Lebanese origin or not.
In 1989, Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa calling for the killing of Rushdie over his novel “The Satanic Verses” which he described as an attack on Islam. Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and torso on Friday while onstage at a lecture in New York state, and is on a ventilator following the attack.
Some media reports have said that the suspect Matar, the 24-year-old man from Fairview, New Jersey, is of Lebanese origin. According to a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation, interviewed by NBC News said that Matar's social media accounts showed sympathies with Shiite extremism and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. But this source noted that no direct link between the suspect and the latter has been established.
Meanwhile, General Security head Ibrahim told L'Orient-Le Jour, "We do not know at this time if he is of Lebanese origin. We need more information about him to determine his identity. The Americans have not yet contacted us about this. We have learned that He was born in the United States and he has never set foot here [in Lebanon]."
"In principle, this incident should not affect Lebanon. As soon as we have more information about him, we will try to find out his affiliations," Ibrahim added.
L'Orient-Le Jour contacted two Hezbollah officials on Saturday morning, both of whom refused to comment on the matter.