DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: "THE GOVERNMENT IS FUNDAMENTALLY IN DISAGREEMENT WITH WILDERS"

30 Muslim Ambassadors Meet Dutch PM Over Anti-Islam Film

THE HAGUE (AFP)--The Dutch foreign minister met ambassadors from 30 Muslim countries Wednesday to discuss the imminent broadcast of an anti-Islam film made by a far-right Dutch parliamentarian, his office said.

The talks, held at the request of the 50-strong Organization for the Islamic Conference, came as several Muslim countries threatened an economic boycott of the Netherlands if the film is shown.

"There was a meeting this morning, requested by the OIC, to hear the Dutch government's point of view on Geert Wilders' film," a spokesman for Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said.

Thirty ambassadors, based either in the Netherlands or in neighboring Belgium, attended the meeting.

The Dutch government has twice tried and failed to convince Wilders - the leader of the far-right Freedom Party - not to broadcast his film, fearing a repeat of the worldwide protests which met the publication of satirical Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

The Taliban in Afghanistan already have threatened retaliation against the 1, 660 Dutch soldiers in the country if the film is broadcast.

Verhagen pointed out that the "the government is fundamentally in disagreement with Wilders" and that "in the internal Dutch debate, both freedom of expression and religious liberty have their place."

Wilders, announcing his film project last autumn, said he was going to expose the Koran's "fascist" nature, which he compared to Hitler's "Mein Kampf".

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1) 30 Muslim Ambassadors Meet Dutch PM Over Anti-Islam Film