Salman Rushdie Drops Scheduled Appearance in Frankfurt Book Fair.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Salman Rushdie, the author of the blasphemous book 'The Satanic Verses', called off a scheduled event at Frankfurt International Book Fair as Muslim pressures against his appearance grew after an Iran-led boycott of the book event.

Rushdie was scheduled to deliver a speech at the inaugural ceremony of the Frankfurt International Book Fair on October 13.

An EU-based source told FNA Saturday evening that Rushdie has "canceled his presence at the book fair and called off his visit to Frankfurt".

Iran announced earlier this week that it boycotted the German cultural event due to Rushdie's appearance.

On Thursday night, Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati called on the Muslim countries to condemn Rushdie's presence in the Frankfurt Book Fair, and boycott the German cultural event.

"In a letter to culture ministers of the Muslim countries and secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, I have called for condemnation of such measures by the Muslim countries," Jannati said on Thursday night.

He reiterated that Rushdie has not only insulted the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the Islamic sanctities and all divine religions.

On Wednesday, Iran's culture ministry decided to boycott the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair in opposition to the planned presence of Salman Rushdie in the event.

"The officials of Frankfurt Book Fair have not provided an acceptable response to Iran's protest at the presence of the blasphemous author (Salman Rushdie), and the (Iranian) culture ministry has, thus, decided not to send the Iranian publishers to the book fair," the ministry said.

On Monday, nearly a dozen Iranian publishers in a letter to the director of Frankfurt Book Fair strongly voiced their opposition to the planned presence of Salman Rushdie in the cultural event.

"We visited the official site of the Frankfurt Book Fair and came to realize that a special occasion has been arranged for Salman Rushdie, the irreverent author of 'The Satanic Verses' who has blatantly insulted the Holy Prophet of Islam and the sanctities of over 1.5 billion Muslims across the world to speak about the importance of the freedom of speech for writers and publishers; this will surely hurt the Iranian publishers and many Muslim publishers across the world," part of the letter addressed to the director of Frankfurt Book Fair read.

The Iranian publishers asked the Frankfurt Book Fair management to reconsider inviting Salman Rushdie to the inaugural ceremony of the fair.

Also on Monday, the Iranian culture ministry underlined that a fatwa issued by late Imam Khomeini in 1989 ordering Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie for writing his blasphemous book 'The Satanic Verses' will always be alive and valid, adding that Iran will not stand attendance of Rushdie in Frankfurt book event.

"Imam Khomeini's fatwa is a religious decree and it will never lose its power or fade out," Deputy Culture Minister Seyed Abbas Salehi said in reaction to Rushdie's planned presence in the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.

He noted that the Iranian culture ministry has written a letter to the head of Frankfurt Book Fair and informed him of Iran's strong protest.

On Sunday, Salehi said that the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa on killing Rushdie after he wrote the sacrilegious book is still alive and valid.

Salman Rushdie's novel 'The Satanic Verses' was first published in the United Kingdom in 1988. Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 Imam Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Since then Rushdie is living covertly and under tight security measures and arrangements for the fear of his life.

[c]2015 Fars News Agency. All rights reserved Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).

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Publication:	FARS News Agency
Date:	Oct 10, 2015
Words:	611
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