Dutch businesses threatened on Saturday to sue far-right legislator Geert Wilders if his anti-Islam film led to a commercial boycott, as EU foreign ministers and more Muslim countries condemned it.
"I don't know if Wilders is rich, or well-insured, but in the case of a boycott, we would look to see if we could make him bear responsibility," Bernard Wientjes, chairman of the Dutch employers' group VNO-NCW, told the newspaper Het Financieel Dagblad.
"A boycott would hurt Dutch exports. Businesses such as Shell, Philips and Unilever are easily identifiable as Dutch companies," he was quoted as saying.
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad called for a boycott on Saturday, echoing a call by media in Jordan.
"If we boycott Dutch products, they will have to close down their businesses," Mohamad said. "If the world's 1.3 billion Muslims unite and say they won't buy, then it [the boycott] will be effective."
Muslim nations including Malaysia and Singapore have condemned the 17-minute film Fitna, released online on Thursday, which links images of extremist attacks to verses from the Koran.
Although there were no mass disturbances in the Netherlands, in Utrecht two cars were set afire on Friday night, with a message calling for the Wilders' death.
Late on Friday the British Web site host pulled Fitna from its site www.liveleak.com, citing threats made to staff. It can still be seen on YouTube and other sites.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the film, calling it "offensively anti-Islamic."
The Dutch government rejected the film, which appeared two years after clashes were sparked by the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in Danish papers.
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