By Xinhua
Brussels : Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said he was angry at recent anti-Netherlands protests in Afghanistan which were sparked by a soon-to-be-released Dutch film critical of Islam, Dutch media reported Wednesday.
“This is not acceptable. I am extremely angry about it,” Balkenende was quoted as saying on television program Het Elfde Uur Tuesday.
Around 15,000 Afghans took part in demonstrations in two Afghan cities Saturday to protest against an anti-Koran film which will be released later this month by Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders and the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in several Danish newspapers.
The demonstrators shouted “Death to the Netherlands” and demanded the withdrawal of Dutch troops from Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, about 300 Afghan lawmakers demonstrated outside the parliamentary building in the Afghan capital of Kabul in protest against the planned film and the Danish cartoons.
Balkenende said he was annoyed because the Dutch mission is in fact focused on contributing to peace and safety. “So I reject what is happening there,” he was quoted as saying.
Earlier this year, Balkenende said he had made it clear to Afghan president Hamid Karzai that Wilders’ film did not reflect the views of the Dutch government.