'Threats' to Dutch envoy in Pakistan

Memo says elements associated with TLP are planning to target Dutch ambassador; TLP denies

THE HAGUE: The Netherlands said on Tuesday that its ambassador to Pakistan has faced "threats", reportedly from people angry over blasphemous tweets by the far-right politician Geert Wilders.

"We are dealing with threats to the ambassador's address," a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.

"We take the security of the embassy very seriously, and that is also the subject of consultations between the Netherlands and Pakistan. For security reasons, I cannot make any further comment."

The Ministry of Interior last month wrote a secret memo on plans to "target" the Dutch ambassador by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), media from both countries reported.

"It has been reported that elements associated with Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) are planning to target (the) Dutch ambassador... to seek revenge for uploading of blasphemous caricatures by Geert Wilders, Dutch parliamentarian, on his personal Twitter account," the memo said.

The interior ministry and Dutch embassy declined to comment. The TLP denied making any threats.

"Attacking somebody is not a policy of Tehreek-e-Labbaik. We are a peaceful movement," TLP spokesman Pir Ijaz Ashrafi told AFP.

However, he said the group "demand the Dutch government expel Wilders from their parliament and if they don't do so, the government of Pakistan should dismiss the Dutch ambassador from Pakistan".

Separately, a body representing 144 Turkish mosques in the Netherlands has asked Twitter to block Wilders's account for inciting hatred, it emerged on Monday.