Excerpt:
The Dutch parliament is holding up the appointment of a new Muslim army chaplain because of his 'radical' views.
The Dutch army was supposed to swear in its first two Muslim chaplains on Thursday. But deputy defence minister Jack de Vries was forced to postpone Ali Eddaoudi's appointment after parliament raised questions about his political views.
Eddaoudi, who is of Moroccan descent, wrote several opinion articles in NRC Handelsblad that some view as radical. In a 2006 article, Eddaoudi defended the right of Muslim neighbourhood stewards to refuse to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. In a 2008 article, he called prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende "a Christian and a hypocrite" and said that "Christians are still at war with Islam".