'We must be able to discuss this'
Ásmundur Friðriksson, MP. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
"With this comment I just wanted to highlight a danger that the nation is facing,“ Ásmundur Friðriksson, MP for the conservative Independence Party, said today to mbl.is after being harshly criticised for calling for the background of all Muslims in Iceland to be investigated to see if any of them has been trained abroad by terrorists or has fought with Jihadists in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Friðriksson said similar things could happen in Iceland as happened in Paris last week where the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were attacked by terrorists leaving 12 dead. "It is perhaps too much to say that we can't go safely to sleep tonight because of this but we are faced with the reality that this could happen here in Iceland," he says adding that the other Nordic countries for example fear they could face similar terrorist attacks.
Rejecting the notion that his comments were based on prejudice Friðriksson says perhaps he could nevertheless have used different words. "But that doesn't change that we must be able to discuss this without shooting the messenger."
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