Wilders stands by anti-Islam comments

Monday 19 February 2007

Anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders said on Sunday he had no intention of apologising to Saudi Arabia for recent comments he made about the Koran. A foreign affairs ministry spokesman told ANP there had been informal contacts from the Saudi ambassador to the Netherlands but no official complaint had been made.

'Are they mad?,' Wilders told ANP. 'It is a scandal that a country without freedom of speech tries to teach me a lesson.'

In an interview with newspaper De Pers last week, Wilders said Moslims should tear out half of the Koran if they wanted to stay in the Netherlands. There were 'enough terrible things' in the book, Wilders said.

Outgoing foreign minister Ben Bot has said that he regretted Wilder's statement, which was not good for the Netherlands' reputation abroad.

On Saturday, Wilders told the Volkskrant that he was 'not happy' that there would soon be two Moslims in the cabinet. 'I would rather there were not,' he said.

© DutchNews.nl

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