ITALY: CONSERVATIVE LEADER SAYS TO TEACH ISLAM IN ITALIAN SCHOOLS

ITALY: CONSERVATIVE LEADER RECOMMENDS TEACHING ISLAM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Rome, 17 Nov. (AKI) - Islam should be taught in public schools, a leading conservative politician in Italy says. Gianfranco Fini, head of the right-wing National Alliance Party who served as foreign minister under the previous government of Silvio Berlusconi, told Italy's largest circulation magazine Panorama on Friday that a child wishing to study the Koran in school "has the right to do that as an optional course." "We need immigrants and they represent an opportunity, not a risk. Integration means first of all guaranteeing that immigrants have rights, the right to believe in their God and practice their religion," he added.

"At the same time we must demand that they accept our culture and abide by precise duties concerning the separation of the religious sphere from the public one," Fini also stressed.

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Pertinent Links:

1) ITALY: CONSERVATIVE LEADER RECOMMENDS TEACHING ISLAM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS