Government prosecutors have for the first time offered a possible motive for a New Jersey man's knife attack on author Salman Rushdie in western New York two years ago. In announcing terrorism charges against Hadi Matar on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Matar was motivated by a Hezbollah leader’s 2006 endorsement of a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. Matar appeared in federal court in Buffalo, where he pleaded not guilty to providing material support to terrorists and other charges. He earlier pleaded not guilty to separate state charges of attempted murder and assault. The attack on Rushdie left the author blind in one eye.
