Pakistan has
stepped up security at diplomatic missions of the
Netherlands and other European nations ahead of the planned
release of a controversial film on the Koran by a
right-wing Dutch lawmaker, an official said.
Geert Wilders,
leader of the Freedom Party, is making a 10-minute film
portraying the Islamic Holy text as a ''fascist book'' that
incites violence and intolerance of women and
homosexuals. He says it will be finished in February
and shown on Dutch television and on the Internet in
March.
Fearing a
backlash by Pakistani Muslims, Pakistan's Interior Ministry
recently held a special meeting in Islamabad focusing on the
security of European interests in the country.
''We have
intensified security of all the diplomatic missions,
especially the Dutch [Embassy],'' Arif Ahmed Khan, the
top security official in southern Sindh province, told
the Associated Press on Thursday.
Security has also
been beefed up for Dutch business interests, including
ABN-Amro Bank, Philips, and Makro stores, he said.
In 2006, Pakistan
witnessed some of the most violent protests in the
Islamic world against the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
published by Danish and other European newspapers.
Tens of thousands of people, spurred on by hard-line
groups, staged demonstrations, triggering clashes with
police that killed five protesters. (AP)
