
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 12, 1993                   TAG: 9310120074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: OSLO, NORWAY                                LENGTH: Short

NORWEGIAN PUBLISHER OF `SATANIC VERSES' SHOT

The Norwegian publisher of "The Satanic Verses," the novel that led Muslim fundamentalists to stalk author Salman Rushdie, was shot and seriously wounded Monday outside his Oslo home.

William Nygaard was shot three times, at least once in the back, as he got into a car, said Stein Haugen of the Oslo police.

Haugen said police did not know who shot Nygaard and it was too early to tell whether the shooting was related to the Norwegian-language publication of Rushdie's book. But a troubled Rushdie indicated in a statement that he assumed it was. Rushdie - who has been in hiding since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran ordered him killed in 1989 because of his novel - said he was devastated by the shooting.

Many Muslims say "The Satanic Verses" is blasphemous.

- Associated Press

by CNB