"In theory, these rules concern all clerics from all religions. But in practice, they target the imams," said Skaarup

COPENHAGEN, September 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Few days after France threatened to expel what it termed as "radical" imams, the Danish government published Friday, September 19, a plan to curb the activities of "radical" religious leaders, which politicians said was apparently aimed primarily at Muslim scholars.

The proposal has the support of the government's far-right ally, the Danish People's Party (DPP), and the opposition Social Democrats and is therefore expected to sail through parliament in October, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

It is also part of a package of strict new immigration laws the government announced on Thursday, September 18.

The rules oblige religious leaders to be financially self-sufficient, speak Danish and respect "Western values" or risk being declared persona non grata.

Although the new rules do not specifically target Islamic leaders, which would leave the government open to accusations of discrimination, politicians confirmed they were aimed at Muslim imams.

The DPP, which proposed the new rules, made its intentions clear on Friday.

"In theory, these rules concern all clerics from all religions. But in practice, they target the imams," DPP spokesman Peter Skaarup told AFP.

He pointed out that Islam was Denmark's second largest religion after the Lutheran Protestant Church, which is actively followed by four-fifths of the country's population of 5.3 millions.

Muslims account for three percent of the population, approximately 170,000 people.

Skaarup claimed: "We proposed these new rules because we've had lots of problems with imams in Denmark who advocate circumcising girls, urge their followers to support al-Qaeda and preach in their own language. How do you expect to integrate immigrants if their religious leaders don't even speak Danish?"

'Negative Influence'

Integration Minister Bertel Haarder told Friday's Jyllands-Posten newspaper that imams have "negative influence" on the Muslim youth and their parents as well.

"The imams have a very negative influence on both parents and young people," he claimed.

The minister threatened some imams would be forced to leave Denmark because they would not be able to comply with the new rules and would therefore be refused residence permits.

"I think the most fundamentalist of the imams, who are poorly educated and speak Danish badly, will end up having to go back home," he said.

The opposition Social Democrats - who lost power in November 2001 after a campaign dominated by the issue of immigration - told AFP they sided with the liberal-conservative government and the fiercely anti-immigrant DPP.

"It is necessary for the imams to prove they have had a religious education, respect human rights and sexual equality, show they are worthy of the Danish public's confidence, be aware of Danish society's values and speak Danish," said Social Democrat spokeswoman Anne-Marie Melgaard.

"It is also equally important for the imams to give a moderate interpretation of Islam…We don't want them to undermine our efforts to integrate immigrants," she said.

"Immigrant Muslim girls change their behavior and start wearing headscarves when a new imam from their (home) villages comes and gives Friday prayers," she alleged.

Before the 2001 election, the Social Democrats had vowed to shun the DPP because of its anti-immigrant vitriol.

But Melgaard said the party was now supporting the religious crackdown because the DPP's views had the support of 12 percent of the Danish electorate.

"We made a deal with the DPP because it's a party that represents a good portion of the electorate and they have to be taken into account," she said.

Condemned

But the left-wing Radical Party, which governed with the Social Democrats from 1993 to 2001, condemned the about-turn by its former coalition partner and attacked the planned crackdown on imams.

"We oppose rules that target any specific religious group," the party spokeswoman Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen told AFP.

She said Denmark's existing rules on immigration - in which the DPP also had a crucial hand - were already among "the most restrictive in the world".

"They are shameful for Denmark, which has abandoned its ideals of freedom and tolerance," asserted the spokeswoman.

The Danish government decision comes a day after French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country is home to five million Muslims, threatened to expel "radical" imams and close mosques preaching "Islamic fundamentalism."