Fatwa against Rushdie still stands, says Iranian leader

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Sir Salman Rushdie was still under the threat of death for writing The Satanic Verses.

The Iranian president was asked about the author in the wake of the anti-Islam film, The Innocence of the Prophet, that has set off protests around the Muslim world. Ahmadinejad appeared to reiterate the 1989 fatwa on Sir Salman by advising that the writer's location be kept secret.

"Where is he now?" Ahmadinejad asked. "Is he in the United States? If he is, you shouldn't broadcast that for his own safety."

An Iranian religious foundation headed by Ayatollah Hassan Saneii raised the bounty for the writer from pounds 1.7?million to pounds 2?million after the film protests. Sir Salman said the threat was a product of the "outrage industry".

Ahmadinejad also claimed ikn the television interview he would have no issue with one of his children marrying a Jew, despite his hostility towards Israel and frequent accusations of anti-Semitism against him.