Khamenei, Khomeini's successor, said Khomeini's fatwa, or religious decree, "about the writer of the blasphemous book, `The Satanic Verses,' is still valid and must be implemented," according to a Tehran radio broadcast monitored in Nicosia.

[Salman Rushdie], an Indian-born British author, has been in hiding in Britain since Khomeini issued the decree Feb. 14, 1989. Muslim fundamentalists consider his 1988 book blasphemous for its irreverent treatment of the Prophet Mohammed, Islam's founder, although many censors admitted not having read it.

Britain, along with about 12 Western allies, recalled their ambassadors from Tehran to protest the fatwa. The European allies resumed ties with Iran, but Tehran severed relations with London, accusing it of trying to pressure Khomeini to revoke the death decree.