Rushdie Shoots Down Book's False Claims

Author Salman Rushdie, center, leaves London's High Court with former wife Elizabeth West and their son, Milan Rushdie, after receiving the apology. (By Cate Gillon -- Getty Images)

Evans also claimed in the book that relations were so bad with the author that he and other officers once locked Rushdie "in a cupboard under the stairs and all went to the local pub for a pint or two."

Rushdie on Tuesday called that and other statements by Evans "surreal."

At the courthouse Tuesday, West, 47, who is now Rushdie's ex-wife, said she married Rushdie because she loved him. But she said she was most bothered that Evans portrayed Rushdie as suicidal and "someone who couldn't cope" with the death threats.

The truth, she said, was that Rushdie's "strength of mind" sustained him.

"London is the libel capital of the world," said Mark Stephens, another lawyer representing Rushdie. He said that "people jet in from all over the world to launder their reputations" in London because British laws are "so heavily weighted against free speech and comment."

To be a plaintiff who loses a libel case in London, Stephens said, "You have to be a moron in a hurry."

Stephens said Rushdie could easily have won "substantial tax-free dollars" if he had pursued a full-scale libel suit against Evans and the publisher.

But Rushdie said he has never believed that winning a large cash award does anything to repair a reputation.

"Instead of going for the megabucks, you simply go to court for the important thing, which is to establish what's true and what's not," Rushdie said. "I think it's a clearer and simpler way of dealing with this."