London Board Lifts Ban on Rushdie Film : Libel issue: Author had urged appeals panel to release ‘International Guerrillas’ movie.

An appeals board today overturned a ban on a film depicting author Salman Rushdie as a drunken sadist who murders Muslims.

Rushdie had urged the Video Appeals Committee to lift the ban on “International Guerrillas.” The ban was imposed last month on the ground that the work could be criminally libelous.

In a passionate written statement, Rushdie said he had not sought the dubious protection of censorship.

“The banning of ‘International Guerrillas,’ however well intentioned, can only damage the process of reconciliation, and I urge the committee to reverse the existing ban,” Rushdie wrote.

The 3 1/2-hour film, made in Pakistan, was refused distribution rights by the British Board of Film Classification.

Rushdie has been in hiding since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on him 18 months ago for writing the novel “The Satanic Verses,” which many Muslims consider blasphemous.

The author said he has confidence in the Muslim and non-Muslim audience to “recognize this film for the distorted, incompetent piece of trash that it is, and to understand that the ‘Salman Rushdie’ character is ludicrously unlike the real me.”

The author said he opposes the use of archaic criminal laws of blasphemy, sedition and criminal libel against creative works as an excuse for censorship or prior restraint.

He urged the release of the film despite the plot, which ends with Rushdie struck dead by lightning under a floating Koran. The film has been playing to packed houses in Pakistan.