Rushdie Will Appear on ’60 Minutes’

NEW YORK — Author Salman Rushdie, in hiding since the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered his execution for writing “The Satanic Verses,” will appear on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday.

Rushdie told Mike Wallace that he did not intend to insult Muslims.

“I’m not this kind of creature with horns and a tail that I’ve been painted,” Rushdie said.

CBS officials said the interview with Wallace took place at a secret location. Rushdie was escorted there by police from England’s Scotland Yard.

On Feb. 14, 1989, Khomeini urged Muslims throughout the world to execute Rushdie, and an aide said the next day that Khomeini offered a million-dollar reward for Rushdie’s death. The late Iranian leader said “The Satanic Verses” denigrated Muslims.

Rushdie said his book had been misinterpreted.

“If I’m accused of calling the prophets’ wives whores, I didn’t do it, you know,” he said.

Rushdie, 43, remains optimistic that a reconciliation can be reached with Muslim fundamentalists. But Rajei-Khorasani, a powerful member of Iran’s Parliament, told Wallace in Tehran that the death sentence can never be lifted.