Shorts: World

Holocaust denier arrested in Amsterdam

amsterdam (jta) | Officials in Amsterdam arrested a Belgian Holocaust denier.

Siegfried Verbeke was arrested Aug. 4 when he arrived at the Amsterdam airport. Germany had issued a European warrant for his arrest in July 2004 for alleged racism and xenophobia, both of which are crimes under German law. Verbeke is a co-founder of the Vlaams Blok, the extreme-right party in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, where he runs an organization called Free Historical Research.

Convicted in Belgium in 2003 for Holocaust denial and racism, he also has a criminal record in the Netherlands, where the highest court convicted him on similar charges in 1997. The Dutch Justice Department will decide in six weeks whether to extradite Verbeke to Germany.




Pakistanis detain Jewish filmmakers

islamabad (jta) | Pakistani authorities who detained two Swedish filmmakers of Jewish descent for 16 days probed them about their "religious preferences."

Leon Flamholc and his son David, together with Tahir Shaw, a British writer of Afghan origin, were making a film about the Mogul empire when authorities arrested them July 18 in Peshawar, a large city near Afghanistan. Authorities said their 16-day detention and their deportation Aug. 3 were "lenient" because the men had entered on tourist visas and didn't have permits to film.

David Flamholc said the men were "blindfolded, held in shackles at gunpoint" and held in cells "stained with blood and excrement,' according to the Associated Press.




Israeli and Arab orchestra plays Argentina

buenos aires (jta) | A joint Israeli Arab orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim is performing in Argentina.

The orchestra will perform Mozart, Mahler and Beethoven music in concerts this week. In addition to the 102 young musicians of the orchestra — from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Spain — Barenboim is being accompanied by Marian Said, widow of professor Edward Said, who was one of the driving forces behind the project. The orchestra's tour started in Europe and will end in the West Bank on Aug. 21.