 Belgium police have arrested a man suspected of threatening to ritually slaughter a senator who had criticised fundamentalist Muslims. Socialist senator Mimount Bousakla was put under police protection this week after receiving the death threats. Belgian Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx and two other politicians have also received death threats, but it is unclear whether the cases are linked. The suspect is reported to have admitted threatening Ms Bousakla. The Antwerp senator appears to have been targeted after she said Belgium's umbrella group for Muslim organisations, the Muslim Executive, should have organised protests against the murder of the controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, who was killed in Amsterdam by an alleged Islamic extremist on 2 November. Ms Bousakla, 32, whose parents are Moroccan, came to prominence after writing a book about her cross-cultural upbringing called Couscous with Belgian Fries. She has received sporadic death threats ever since, but this time they were taken so seriously that she went into hiding and was given round-the-clock police protection. |