Friday, October 27, 2006

Italy: Parlamentarian gets police protection after veil remarks

Rome, 23 Oct. (AKI) - An Italian conservative parliamentarian is under police protection as of Monday after her criticism of the Muslim veil led to threats which were considered serious by security officials. Daniela Santanche, a leading member of Italy's second-largest party in the conservative opposition, the right-wing National Alliance, said in two separate television interviews over the weekend she tought the Muslim veil "is not a religious symbol and it is not required by the Koran" and that "it is not a symbol of freedom."

The remarks, were first made on Sky Italia television during a talk show in which she was a guest with Ali Abu Shwaima, the imam of the mosque in Segrate, Milan, and then repeated during a popular Sunday show, Domenica In, on Italian state television.

Shwaima, an Italian citizen, responded saying she was "ignorant, false, an instigator of hate and an infidel" - accusations which interior ministry officials considered to be serious threats.

More here.

2 comments:

Epaminondas said...

I just hope this kind of thing brings it all to a head, and crystallizes the issues.

If I have had threats, I can only imagine what is going on there...(of course with a birth rate of a about 1.1, in 40 years for every 2000 Italians there now there'll be 1100, so it probably won't even matter)

Pastorius said...

Man, the cops that keep guard for her sure are lucky. God, if only some of our American female politicians looked like that.

Hubba hubba.