Dutch top diplomat says Muslims lack tolerance 'gene'

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot says Muslims lack a tolerance "gene", in an interview with the Brazilian daily Correio Braziliense.

"We always have been a tolerant country, and we still are. You have to look at the facts: 10 percent of our population comes from Muslim countries. They have gone on to become Dutch citizens, but they have different genes from ours. They are less tolerant," Bot said in the interview published Wednesday.

Middle East Online, 19 January 2007