Berlin, Oct 14 (AP) A senior member of Chancellor AngelaMerkel's party has been rebuked by his own political alliesfor suggesting that Germany might introduce public holidays tocelebrate the Islamic religion.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told a party rallyin northern Germany this week that he was willing to discussIslamic holidays in areas with large Muslim populations.
There are an estimated 4.7 million Muslims in Germany,mostly immigrants from Turkey.
Alexander Dobrindt, who also belongs to Merkel'sconservative Union bloc, told the daily Bild on Saturday thathe was against Islamic holidays: "Our Christian heritage isn'tup for negotiation."Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats and theirBavaria-only sister party have been losing voters to thenationalist Alternative for Germany, which campaigns againstIslam and large-scale Muslim immigration. (AP)MRJ.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.