By Marcin Grajewski 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) -
European Union foreign ministers
condemned on Saturday a Dutch film that accuses the Koran of
inciting violence, but said its author had a right to make it
under the bloc's free speech principles.
Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentarian and leader of the
anti-immigration Freedom Party, launched his short video on the
Internet on Thursday, prompting an al Qaeda-linked website to
call for his death and attacks on Dutch soldiers in
Afghanistan.
"The film equates Islam with violence and this view is
sharply rejected," the 27 ministers said in a statement after a
two-day meeting in the Slovenian country resort of Brdo.
"The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and
violence," they said, expressing support for the Dutch
government, which has dismissed the film's view on Islam.
The film, which urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled"
verses from the Koran, has outraged Muslim nations in a similar
way to a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his
turban published in a Danish newspaper in 2005.
But the ministers said the film fell within the scope of
the EU principle of freedom of expression and those offended by
it should refrain from violence or threats.
"Feeling offended is no excuse for aggression or threats,"
the ministers said.
"Muslims, Christians and people of all convictions and
beliefs must live together in peace and mutual respect."
Iran called the film heinous, blasphemous and anti-Islamic,
and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and a
former Dutch colony, said it was an "insult to Islam, hidden
under the cover of freedom of expression."
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said he was
satisfied with the support from his EU partners.
Denmark was hit was hit in 2006 by boycotts and
international protests over the Prophet cartoons.
"I do not agree with the film because you cannot say 1.3
billion Muslims are potential terrorists," Danish Foreign
Minister Per Stig Moller told reporters on Friday.
Earlier, British-based LiveLeak, the first Web site to
post the Wilders film, said it had removed the film after
threats to its staff "of a very serious nature."
(Editing by Paul Taylor)
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