In the past, British detectives used to be send at tax-payer’s expense to protect Rushdie in America

In the past, British detectives have been sent at taxpayers’ expense to protect Rushdie in America. However, he has had US protection during recent visits when he had spent much of his time working and socialising among New York’s literary elite.

In a special deal negotiated with Washington, American secret service which protects the President has taken over the cost of Rushdie’s close protection in the US, while special branch would still be responsible for his safety in UK.

The latest "threat assessment" of Rushdie’s safety, conducted by MI5 security service together with the police and a special section of the foreign office, suggests that the risk of assassination is now so reduced that security can be downgraded although that decision is for the police not the intelligence agency.

With the crisis in the Middle East, assessors are understood to have suggested that such instability can breed one-off attacks.

However, this puts Rushdie in the same bracket as a number of other high-profile celebrities and politicians who do not enjoy the same high level of protection and often have to foot the bill themselves.

Rushdie was condemned by Khomeini, Iran’s religious head of state, in 1989 after the publication of Satanic Verses.

Many Muslims felt the text was sacrilegious and Khomeini issued a fatwa placing a bounty on the author’s head.

After Khomeini’s death, the government in Iran lifted the fatwa in 1998. However, other Islamic groups refused to acknowledge this.

The move to spread the cost of Rushdie’s armed guards was welcomed by campaigners who have suggested that the British taxpayers should no longer be expected to foot the bill for his protection when he chooses to live in America.