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Taslima in Europe for medical counselling

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who lives in exile in India, has travelled to Europe to seek medical advice, according to a Swedish politician and news reports.

  • AP
  • Published: 23:54 March 20, 2008
  • Gulf News

Stockholm: Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who lives in exile in India, has travelled to Europe to seek medical advice, according to a Swedish politician and news reports.

Cecilia Wikstrom, a lawmaker for Sweden's Liberal Party who said she has been in contact with the writer, confirmed that Nasreen was in Europe.

"I can confirm that she has landed this afternoon at an airport somewhere in Europe, but due to security reasons I cannot say anything about her whereabouts," Wikstrom said.

The Swedish news agency TT said Nasreen was in Sweden, where she has lived previously, but did not cite its sources.

Under pressure

Nasreen, who fled death threats in Bangladesh, had been living in New Delhi since November, after a violent protest by a Muslim group forced her to flee her home in Kolkata. The group, All India Minorities Forum, accused her of insulting Islam in her writings.

She had complained recently that the Indian government was not allowing her to meet friends or travel outside the Indian capital. "She is in Europe to receive medical advice," Wikstrom said. "The pressure was too much for her [in India]."

Wikstrom declined to reveal which country Nasreen was in or give details about her medical condition. Nasreen left Bangladesh in 1994 after extremists threatened to kill her.

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