03-05-2010, 05:47 PM
[size="6"]Dutch politician Geert Wilders in UK to show Islam film[/size]
Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders has arrived in the UK to show his anti-Islam film after overturning a ban on entering the country.
Mr Wilders, who has been accused of Islamaphobia, leads the Freedom Party.
He will show his film Fitna to MPs and peers as a guest of Baroness Cox and UK Independence Party leader Lord Pearson.
Mr Wilders attempted to enter the UK last February, but was ordered to fly back to the Netherlands hours later. The ban was overturned in October.
The Freedom Party recently made major gains in local elections in the Netherlands, becoming the biggest party in the medium-sized city of Almere and the second largest in The Hague, which is the country's political capital.
The Dutch MP has called the Koran a "fascist book".
His film caused outrage across the Muslim world when it was posted on the internet in 2008.
Controversial film
Fitna's opening scenes show a copy of the Koran followed by footage of the 9/11 attacks in the US and the bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005.
Mr Wilders has had 24-hour protection for the past five years after receiving death threats for his views.
There was no sign of any protests when Mr Wilders arrived at London's Heathrow airport on Friday morning.
However, demonstrators are expected at Westminster later.
The Dutch politician had been due to show his film at the House of Lords last year when the then home secretary Jacqui Smith said his presence had the potential to "threaten community harmony and therefore public safety", prompting the ban on him entering the country.
Explaining his controversial views last October, Mr Wilders said: "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies, the less freedom that we get."
Lord Pearson, who invited Mr Wilders, has condemned radical Islam as a "world domination movement".
In a pre-election interview last month, Lord Pearson described the Dutch politician as a "friend" and denied accusations that his own party was "radical" after it called for face coverings - such as the veil worn by some Muslim women - to be banned.
He asked: "Is it radical to wish to protect British society and our Judeo-Christian culture from the growing influence of radical Islam?"
Lord Pearson, who has insisted that his party is "absolutely non-racist" and made clear he was not referring to moderate Muslims, argued that the political establishment is "asleep" to the expansionist aims of radical Islam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8551220.stm
Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders has arrived in the UK to show his anti-Islam film after overturning a ban on entering the country.
Mr Wilders, who has been accused of Islamaphobia, leads the Freedom Party.
He will show his film Fitna to MPs and peers as a guest of Baroness Cox and UK Independence Party leader Lord Pearson.
Mr Wilders attempted to enter the UK last February, but was ordered to fly back to the Netherlands hours later. The ban was overturned in October.
The Freedom Party recently made major gains in local elections in the Netherlands, becoming the biggest party in the medium-sized city of Almere and the second largest in The Hague, which is the country's political capital.
The Dutch MP has called the Koran a "fascist book".
His film caused outrage across the Muslim world when it was posted on the internet in 2008.
Controversial film
Fitna's opening scenes show a copy of the Koran followed by footage of the 9/11 attacks in the US and the bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005.
Mr Wilders has had 24-hour protection for the past five years after receiving death threats for his views.
There was no sign of any protests when Mr Wilders arrived at London's Heathrow airport on Friday morning.
However, demonstrators are expected at Westminster later.
The Dutch politician had been due to show his film at the House of Lords last year when the then home secretary Jacqui Smith said his presence had the potential to "threaten community harmony and therefore public safety", prompting the ban on him entering the country.
Explaining his controversial views last October, Mr Wilders said: "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies, the less freedom that we get."
Lord Pearson, who invited Mr Wilders, has condemned radical Islam as a "world domination movement".
In a pre-election interview last month, Lord Pearson described the Dutch politician as a "friend" and denied accusations that his own party was "radical" after it called for face coverings - such as the veil worn by some Muslim women - to be banned.
He asked: "Is it radical to wish to protect British society and our Judeo-Christian culture from the growing influence of radical Islam?"
Lord Pearson, who has insisted that his party is "absolutely non-racist" and made clear he was not referring to moderate Muslims, argued that the political establishment is "asleep" to the expansionist aims of radical Islam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8551220.stm