MILOS FORMAN - FORMAN BLASTS 'LAUGHABLE' MOZART OPERA CANCELLATION

LATEST: Czech movie director MILOS FORMAN is the latest figure to blast the Berlin opera company which last week (27SEP06) scrapped a WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART production over fears it would incite violence. IDOMENEO features the severed heads of the Prophet Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha in one scene, and was axed by the Deutsche Oper over fears of a Muslim backlash. Islam considers any image of the prophet to be blasphemous. However the AMADEUS film maker insists the decision is pathetic. He says, "It's more than laughable, it's dangerous. The staging does not call for violence: it does not say, 'Go into the street and kill Muslims.' "If we start being afraid of extremists, we will soon all be wearing MAO TSE-TUNG uniforms. Do we want 100 per cent security? If so, there is one country where the inhabitants are totally protected from strangers and that's North Korea." The head of the Deutsche Oper, KIRSTEN HARMS, claims the production was cancelled on the advice of the police.