A Swedish political leader said in an interview with the country's Sveriges Television (SVT) that Islam should be banned in the Scandinavian country and called for the deportation of Muslims. “Ban Islam in Sweden and deport those who persist in believing in the religion”, said Pär Norling, group leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD) in Bollnäs. His comments came as a Neo-Nazi group was protesting in the city following a controversial rape case. Although Norling said in the interview that he disapproves of Nazism, he did say he considers it the result of the lack of the country's immigration regulations. He added that he agreed with the far right movement on Islam. “That can exist elsewhere but in Sweden it doesn't fit in," he told SVT. Last week, fellow Swedish Democrat Sven-Erik Karlsson was in hot water after he said, in reference to the reported harassment of Somali refugee families in the southern town of Forserum, saying that Swedish towns should have gangs to harass refugees. He was forced to resign as a result of the outpouring of angry comments. But for Muslims in the country, it is yet another sign that anti-Islamic sentiment is growing in the largely tolerant country. Earlier this month, an anti-Islam protest in Sweden ended in violence after counter demonstrators broke through a police line and threw stones, bottles and fireworks at the anti-Islam march. Police spokesman Kjell Lendgren was reported as saying that around 400 “leftists had gathered to heckle the 100-strong demonstration," which had been rallying to bring attention to what it argues is the Islamization of Europe. In the counter protest, the local activists called for tolerance and warned of a rise in fascism. They referred to the nationalist groups as “Breivik's foot-soldiers" – a reference to Norwegian ultra-conservative terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway last year. Lendgren said the leftists shouted and blew vuvuzelas to drown out anti-Islam and nationalist speeches, but then started throwing bottles and lit fireworks at police, injuring two officers. He said 10 activists were arrested, after which the situation calmed down. Nationalist groups such as the English Defense League were instrumental in organizing the anti-Islam event, which was described on the anti-Islam European Freedom Initiative's website as the “first worldwide counter-jihad action."
