BRUSSELS/CAIRO: The leader of the extreme right party in Belgium, Philip Dewinter, has condemned the Quran as an intolerant and unacceptable book, agreeing with comments made earlier in the week by Geert Wilders, the head of the right-wing Freedom Party in the Netherlands. Dewinter, the floor leader for the conservative political party, the Flemish Block, called the Muslim holy book "intolerant and "totalitarian in an interview with a Dutch news station. However, he did not go as far as Wilders had gone in his condemnation, arguing that he would not be in favor of banning the Quran in Europe. The comments were made in reference to an editorial written by the Dutch conservative leader, in which he stated that the Quran is a "fascist text that exhorts followers to kill and rape, saying it has "no place in our constitutional state. He called for a prohibition on the sale or possession of the Quran, including inside mosques and private homes. While Dewinter agreed with Wilders' sharp attacks, he said that he would not go so far as to seek a ban. He argued that such a prohibition would be a violation of the European value of freedom of opinion and expression. According to the politician's website, he believes that "freedom of expression is a European achievement that cannot be put aside because of fundamentalist Islam, which preaches a message of hatred and depravity against everything that is un-Islamic. However, in a similar manner to the way in which Wilders' comments were received, Dewinter's comments were condemned across the board - by religious scholars, the Egyptian government, and Belgian government officials. Mahmoud Ashour, the former deputy for Al-Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center told Daily News Egypt that "people who see the Quran as intolerable and unacceptable don't understand what it says. They should read what it says and try to understand it, and in time they will respect it because it calls for peace, harmony, and cooperation between individuals. Ashour added that such remarks were racist. When asked to comment on the potential prohibition of the Quran in Europe he said that "as long as there are people in Europe who live their lives by the Quran, the governments will never be able to ban it. I am not worried about this as a potential outcome. The remarks also elicited condemnations from government officials in Belgium. According to one unnamed government source, the opinions expressed by Dewinter do not reflect the views of the vast majority of Belgian citizens. "Belgians are not racist, the source told Daily News Egypt. "[Dewinter's] party is not well supported and is boycotted by all the other parties in Belgium. His views do not represent what Belgians actually feel about Islam. In the most recent general elections, held in 2003, the Flemish Block party garnered 11.6 percent of the vote, and was the fifth most popular party in Belgium. They received a similar percentage of votes in elections held in 2007 for the Belgian Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. Wilders' remarks on Wednesday provoked similar responses, with Dutch Charge d Affaires in Cairo, Louis Pete, calling the editorial "an insult to and derision of Islam that causes divisions within Dutch society. Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki and Dutch Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar also condemned Wilders' remarks, calling them, respectively, "racist and "insulting.
