Geert Wilders' anti-Koran film goes live on Internet

PanARMENIAN.Net - After months of public discussion, a film critical of the Koran produced by the Dutch politician Geert Wilders was released on the Internet on Thursday night despite warnings that it could spark violence.



Entitled "Fitna," the short film intersperses footage of acts of terrorism with sayings from the Koran and begins with one of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad whose publication in Denmark provoked large and violent protests in several countries.



Politicians and Muslim leaders have warned against releasing the film, and broadcasters in the Netherlands refused to screen it. But Wilders - a member of Parliament and an anti-immigration campaigner who lives under 24-hour police protection because of his outspoken views on Islam - argued that he was defending free speech.



"I think Islam and the Koran are a danger for freedom in the Netherlands in the long term, and I need to warn for that," he told NOS television on Thursday, arguing that his film was not a "provocation."



"Fitna" was posted on the Internet at 7 p.m. Thursday via a site called LiveLeak and, according to the NRC Handelsblad Web site, received 1.2 million hits within an hour. LiveLeak later proved unable to deal with the volume of traffic.



Before it begins, viewers are warned that they may see shocking images, including pictures of terrorist attacks in New York and Madrid. The film, about 16 minutes long, quotes several verses attributed to the Koran that appear to suggest violence toward non-Muslims, including a warning that "those who have disbelieved our signs, we shall roast them in fire."



"Fitna" - Arabic for "ordeal" - ends with pages being turned, followed by the sound of tearing. This, says text on the screen, was the sound of a page being torn from a phone book, adding: "It is not up to me, but up to the Muslims themselves to tear the spiteful verses from the Koran."



The Dutch government has warned that a film offensive to Muslims could lead to violence in Islamic countries similar to that of two years ago when Danish embassies were attacked in protests against the publication of cartoons, the AP reports.