Saudi Arabia summons Czech ambassador over 'Satanic Verses'

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has summoned the Czech ambassador over a coming translation of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses."

A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the ambassador was asked Friday to censor the coming Czech translation because the book "distorts the true religion of Islam." The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.

Many Muslims consider "The Satanic Verses" blasphemous. Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for Rushdie's death in 1989, and the book is widely banned across the Muslim world.

Iran has offered a $3 million reward for anyone who kills Rushdie. It also said it would boycott this year's Frankfurt Book Fair over a planned opening speech by the India-born British novelist.