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Dutch embassy relocated due to security concerns

ISLAMABAD: The Netherlands has moved its embassy in Islamabad to a hotel due to security concerns following the release of an anti-Islamic film by a Dutch politician, an embassy spokeswoman said on Thursday.

“We didn’t feel safe anymore in that building for the time being, so we decided to shift temporarily,” the embassy spokeswoman told Reuters. The film has drawn strong condemnation and protests from Islamic countries, including Pakistan. Last month, an Al Qaeda-linked website called for anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders’ death and an increase in attacks on Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan.

“Obviously, our country has been on a higher profile because of this film and that’s why we are on alert for any sort of information coming in regarding our security situation,” the spokeswoman said.

Pakistan has denounced the film as an attempt to propagate the politics of hate and xenophobia.

Hardline Islamic groups have held protests against the film as well as the reprinting of a blasphemous caricature in Danish newspapers in February.

The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution denouncing the Dutch film and the reprinting of the caricatures in Danish newspapers.

In February, Pakistani authorities ordered Internet service providers to block the popular YouTube website after several films purporting to be Wilder’s 15-minute movie appeared on it. The ban was lifted later, after YouTube removed the content deemed insulting to Islam. reuters

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