Only few demonstrated against Norwegian troops in Afghanistan

Both politicians and Muslim leaders are happy with the low turnout at Friday's demonstration outside Parliament against the presence of Norwegian troops in Afghanistan. Only 37 people showed up.

"It’s good that they came out so that we can see who they are, and they seem to be very few," André Oktav Dahl from the Conservative Party (Høyre) tells Aftenposten.

Earlier this week, the people planning the demonstration posted a video that featured threats against Crown Prince Haakon, the Norwegian prime minster, and foreign minister. A 21-year-old Norwegian citizen, with parents from South America, was arrested on Friday for producing the video. He was originally Catholic, but later converted to Islam.

The organizers of the demonstration warned that between 500-700 people would show up, but according to reporters from NRK who were at the scene only 37 showed up.

"That only 37 people attended shows that most Muslims in Norway are not involved in the type of rhetoric that was shown in the video posted on YouTube prior to the demonstration," Methab Asfar, Secretary General in the Islamic Council of Norway, tells Aftenposten.

Asfar thinks it is important that those who choose to use their freedom of expression in a demonstration are aware of their responsibilities. The focus shouldn’t be on whether there was a victory for one party that only 37 people showed up, but that all people who express themselves also need to do so with care, he says.

The 21-year-old creator of the video is charged with threats and will be imprisoned for two weeks. "We want to investigate who he has been working with," prosecutor Anne Karoline Bakken Staff tells Aftenposten.

(Aftenposten)

Julie Ryland

Saturday, 21 January 2012 08:11