Saudi ambassador Waleed al-Khareejy demanded Sunday that a Dutch right-wing politician apologize and retract remarks made last week and deemed insulting to Islam and its holy book.
A leader of the conservative Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, had told the press that half of the Koran should be torn and thrown away. He also lashed out at the Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam, describing Islam as a "violent" religion.
Al-Khareejy said an apology was "necessary" and that Wilders had to withdraw his statements. However, the ambassador seemed reluctant to attract media, saying that the embassy would rather follow up the issue "away from the press." The main aim was to stop such insults to Islam, al-Khareejy told the Saudi-based al-Watan newspaper. |