GERMANY: Merkel warns against bowing to fear of Muslim violence

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Wednesday (September 27) not to bow to fears of Islamic violence after a Berlin opera house cancelled a Mozart work over concerns some scenes could enrage Muslims and pose a security risk. "I think the cancellation was a mistake, I think self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practise violence in the name of Islam," she told reporters. "It makes no sense to retreat." Merkel's comments, which echoed those of other senior German politicians, fuelled a row over the cancellation of Mozart's "Idomeneo" which overshadowed a government-sponsored conference to promote dialogue with the country's 3.2 million Muslims. Berlin's Deutsche Oper said on Monday it had pulled performances of the opera, which shows the severed heads of the Prophet Mohammad, Buddha and Jesus, after police warned that it could pose an "incalculable" security risk. The row comes two weeks after Pope Benedict enraged some Muslims by quoting from a medieval text linking the spread of the Islamic faith to violence. Last year's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper triggered violent Muslim protests.

ITN Source | September 27, 2006

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