Muslims unhappy at German "Satanic Verses" staging

By Carolyn Palmer

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German Muslim group said on Friday protests were likely against the first ever staging of a dramatized version of Salman Rushdie's controversial book "The Satanic Verses" in Potsdam near Berlin on Sunday.

Nurhan Soykan, spokeswoman for the central council of Muslims in Germany, told Reuters Muslims believed in a free press and freedom of opinion.

"But even this has its boundaries," she said. "We're worried that provocations and insults against us have increased recently. I wouldn't want to ban (the play) but you can bet on protests from Muslim people. They can't be expected to put up with everything."

Rushdie's novel, which was published in the late 1980s, caused outrage among Muslims who deemed it blasphemous.

The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's supreme religious leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, in 1989 that called on Muslims to kill the British author.

This forced the writer to live in hiding for nine years. In June 2007 he was selected for a knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth, again angering some Muslims.

German police said they had been consulting with the Potsdam theatre and a large number of officers would be on patrol for the premiere on Sunday.

"We'll be monitoring the situation," police spokesman Rudi Sonntag said. "Although we haven't had any indications of dangers or disturbances, we can't rule out the possibility that demonstrations will be going on."