Salman Rushdie's New Novel

(Amsterdam) There will certainly be headlines about this story.

From Deutche Presse Agentur:

Salman Rushdie strikes a blow at Islamist extremism and terrorism in his new novel, "Shalimar the Clown," published in Dutch Thursday, a month before the English version is due to appear on the bookshelves.

In a simultaneous article in the Times of London and Dutch daily Volkskrant, the author, himself a Muslim who lived under sentence of death from a fatwa issued by the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, calls for an Islamic reformation to bring the faith into the modern world.

Though the fatwa was lifted in 1998, Rushdie continues to live under guard.

Frankly, Mr. Rushdie better beef up his security because his new novel calls for an Islamic reformation and there is no aspect of the religion that doesn't get harshly criticized. I predict fatwas on top of fatwas.