Indonesian Muslims called yesterday for the death of a Dutch politician for making a film that alleges Islam is an inspiration for violence.
The demands came at a protest outside the Dutch embassy in Jakarta.
"Islam is a holy religion," Shodiq Ramadan told about 50 protesters who shouted in agreement. "Those who have insulted it deserve to be sentenced to death."
PHOTO: AP
Anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders released the film over the Internet last week.
The film has been condemned as racist and misleading by governments around the world.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but hardline interpretations of the faith generally do not attract much support. The government condemned the film soon after its release last week.
Indonesia's president urged the mainly Muslim nation not to resort to violence in protests against the Dutch lawmaker, as fresh rallies erupted outside the Dutch embassy yesterday.
More than 70 activists massed outside the Dutch embassy in Jakarta amid heavy security on a third day of protests against the film, made by far-right Dutch lawmaker.
The protesters carried posters calling for Wilders to be punished. One showed an image of him bearing fangs and with a gun at either side of his head, alongside the slogan "Death to the insulter of Islam."
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono late on Monday urged Indonesians not to resort to violence in venting their anger about the film, which was released on the Internet last Thursday.
He also barred Wilders from entering Indonesia and said screenings of the 17-minute film Fitna would be banned in the former Dutch colony.
The film features imagery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the 2004 Madrid bombings combined with quotes from the Koran, Islam's holy book.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called the film "offensively anti-Islamic."
Around 60 members of the Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, along with a dozen members of the youth group Movement for the Defense of Islam (GPI), protested outside the embassy yesterday.
Seven protesters were invited inside to meet Dutch diplomats to convey their concerns about the film.
The GPI issued a statement calling on Muslims to boycott Dutch products to "defend the purity of Islam."
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen sought on Monday to temper anger over the film in the Muslim world, saying that hurt feelings need not lead to violence.
Yesterday's demonstrations in Jakarta came after about 50 members of a more militant Islamic group, the Front for the Defenders of Islam, protested at the embassy on Monday.
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