Merkel call to stand firm over terrorists

From the Scotsman - more signs of sanity:

ANGELA Merkel, the German chancellor, yesterday urged her people not to bow to fears of Islamic violence after a Berlin opera house cancelled a Mozart work over concerns that scenes might enrage Muslims and pose a security risk.

"I think the cancellation was a mistake. I think self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practise violence in the name of Islam," she told reporters.

Mrs Merkel's comments, fuelled a row over the cancellation of Mozart's Idomeneo that overshadowed a government-sponsored conference to promote dialogue with the country's 3.2 million Muslims.

The Deutsche Oper Berlin pulled Idomeneo, which has a scene depicting the severed heads of Mohammed, Buddha and Jesus, after police warned it might pose an "incalculable" security risk.