THE HAGUE, 14/02/07 - If the Prophet Mohammed were living in the Netherlands today, he would have to be deported from the country. And if Muslims want to stay in the Netherlands, they must tear up and throw away half the Koran, says Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders.

Wilders gave an extensive interview yesterday to De Pers newspaper. In it, he outlined ambivalent feelings about the Middle East. Wilders travelled as a young man through Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. "Oh, it is so beautiful there! The Syrian region of Palmyra for example (...) has a rich history, a rich culture (...) How often I was invited by people into their homes in small villages in the Middle East. And Iran, what friendly, lovely people live there (...) I only have something against the religion, not against the people."

Wilders discovered "that there is a constant factor" in the Middle East. "That the regime, the religion, the spiritual leadership is no good at all." There was not a specific moment when he became annoyed with Islam. "It happened gradually."

According to Wilders, Islam is a violent religion. "If Mohammed lived here today, I would propose tarring and feathering and hunting him out of the country as an extremist. (...) If Muslims want to stay here, they must tear up and throw away half the Koran. They must not listen to their Imam. I have read the Koran. (...) And I know that there are enough terrible things in it. If Muslims do assimilate, they are fully-fledged citizens, not a millimetre less valuable than you or I."

Wilders believes his new PVV party - it obtained 9 Lower House seats in November - can grow into "one of the biggest parties" in parliament. "Other parties avoid the themes that threaten us in our existence. Everything we are proud of, we sell to the devil. (...) You feel that you are no longer living in your own country."

Wilders thinks he cannot accomplish much but something with his current nine seats. He points to the ban on all-enveloping clothing that he instigated. "Two years before I put forward my motion for a burqa ban, I was denounced for this. But it has succeeded, the burqa ban was adopted by 76 to 74 votes."

Wilders concurs that he is "mad about Israel." The only criticism he has of the country is that "I find Israel sometimes listens to Europe too much. It should have intervened in Lebanon much earlier. I am more inclined to consider that Israel does not go far enough than that it goes too far."