Dutch lawmaker says anti-Koran film almost finished

By Alexandra Hudson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A politician making an anti-Koran film that has stirred Muslim outrage, brought him death threats and alarmed the Dutch government said on Wednesday the movie would be finished this week.

Geert Wilders has given few details about the content of his film "Fitna", other than saying that in it he intends to present his views about the Koran. In the past he has called for the Koran to be banned and likened it to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

He said talks with Dutch broadcasters would begin next week over the screening of "Fitna", an Arabic term used in the Koran and sometimes translated as "strife".

At the same time as the film is televised it will also be made available on a special internet site www.fitnathemovie.com, intended to skirt any restrictions on access.

"It is very good news. The film will definitely be finished this week, that is to say before March 1," Wilders told Reuters.

The project has sparked street protests as far afield as Indonesia.

Pakistan's upper house of parliament adopted a resolution this week condemning efforts to denigrate Islam and promote hatred, referring to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad first published in Danish newspapers in 2005 and to Wilders' film.

Turkey has voiced concern about the film, and the Iranian government called it a "provocative and Satanic" act.