Drastic rethink of security likely in wake of Salman Rushdie attack

Salman Rushdie spent nine years in hiding after the fatwa was issued. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Salman Rushdie spent nine years in hiding following the issue of a notorious fatwa authorising his killing.

Though he will be loth to return to that kind of existence, the attack on him last week will most likely lead to a drastic rethink of his security.

In the years after the fatwa was issued in February 1989, Rushdie moved from rented house to rented house and rarely appeared in public.