THE HAGUE, 27/05/08 - The Amsterdam police corps is giving its officers a discount if they buy the Koran translation of writer Kader Abdolah. Officers should thereby be encouraged to get a better insight into Islam, according to a corps spokesman.

Abdolah says he translated the Koran to make the book accessible to the Dutch. The book of the Iranian-Dutch author was published at the end of last month by publisher De Geus.

Officers who buy the book pay half price. The other half is paid out of the Amsterdam police budget. Officers are not obligated to read the book, the police spokesman did say.