Dutch MP and anti-Islamization figurehead Geert Wilders flirted with grave danger after an alleged assassination attempt was thwarted and a bounty was placed on his head, reports indicate.
A man believed to be Pakistani was arrested this week after posting a video to Facebook announcing his arrival in The Hague with the apparent intention of killing Wilders, according to authorities.
Wilders tweeted that Dutch counterterrorism officials notified him regarding the plot and even attached an article from media outlet NOS describing the matter in detail.
Mij is vanmorgen door NCTb verteld dat een man op Facebook in een filmpje zou hebben gezegd dat hij in NL is gearriveerd met het doel mij te vermoorden. Gelukkig is hij opgepakt. Het is waanzin dat dit gebeurt nav een tekenwedstrijd en dat het doodsbedreigingen regent. https://t.co/3ZYc3AI9GB
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) August 28, 2018
"I was told by NCTb this morning that a man on Facebook said in a video that he arrived in NL for the purpose of killing me," Wilders wrote. "Fortunately, he is arrested."
"It is madness that this is happening over a drawing contest and that it rains death threats."
The man is 26-years-old and delivered his brief manifesto in Urdu at the central train station in The Hague, according to NOS.
A copy of the video, translated by linguists at Vlad Tepesblog, can be found here.
"I'm in the Netherlands," the man says, according to the translation. "I'm about five minutes from Parliament where the exhibition is. Only he [Wilders] is my target. If Allah wills it, I will be successful."
"The reason: they make jokes about our prophet."
Also, reports and supporting video evidence have also surfaced claiming a Pakistani cricket player has placed a bounty on Wilders' life amounting to roughly $23,500.
Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif, who was banned from cricket for 5 years for his role in the spot-fixing during Pakistan Super League 2017, places Rs. 3 million bounty on the head of the blasphemer Dutch MP Geert Wilders pic.twitter.com/p3zpqnxHhs
— SAMRI (@SAMRIReports) August 27, 2018
"On Twitter, a Pakistani cricketer announced that he put about 20,000 euros on the head of 'blasphemer' Geert Wilders," reports NOS. "The player is Khalid Latif, who last year was banned from playing five years due to match fixing in the Pakistani cricket competition."
Wilders advertised plans to host a "Draw Muhammad" cartoon contest at his party's chambers in Dutch Parliament some time this fall, and has received an increased slew of death threats since the announcement.
(PHOTO: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
