Indian-origin British author Salman Rushdie has been named in the ‘most-wanted list of Islam critics to kill’ released by al Qaeda in the new issue of its English online magazine.
The shocking article in the Inspire magazine read, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam’.
A fatwa was issued against Rushdie by Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatullah Khomeini in 1989 over passages in his book The Satanic Verses.
Iran’s Khordad Foundation has raised the reward offered for Rushdie’s killing by GBP 500,000 to GBP 2.5 million.
According to the Sun, the magazine also lists American pastor Terry Jones, who burned the holy Quran on a 9/11 anniversary, among its targets.
Alongside the images is the slogan, “Yes we can. A bullet a day keeps the infidel away.”
The banned extremist web magazine is published by the Middle East Media Research Institute based in Washington DC.
