Would-Be Government Party Seeks Ban On Muslim Cemetery
ROME (AFP) - One of the parties seeking to be represented in Italy's next government called for deceased Muslims to be banned from a municipal cemetery in the northern city of Trenton, city authorities said.
Under city plans, 42 graves are to be reserved for Muslims, but the regional councilor of the federalist Northern League, Sergio Divina, argued that the decision would lead to a "visual scandal"
It would be "mutually embarrassing [for Islam and Catholicism] and raise fears that our customs will be corrupted," he said at a news conference. His party, which is headed by firebrand Umberto Bossi, is planning to collect signatures to have the authorization repealed and will hold a rally outside the cemetery on Saturday.
Municipal officials said the Catholic Church was not opposed to opening up part of the cemetery to Muslims since it was on municipal territory and not under Church administration and that no distinction was being made between the denominations of those buried there anyway.
Plans for a Muslim section also exist in a cemetery in the nearby town of Rovereto. Last weekend, Bossi argued that Muslims where asking for rights which they would not grant Christians.
"Here, justice, freedom and democracy are rights but there, these rights are different, which causes a number of problems that must be addressed carefully," he warned.
The Northern League, which has toned down calls for a separate state in affluent northern Italy and is now campaigning for more regional autonomy, is also protesting against a mosque project in Lodi, near Milan, Italy's second city.
