October 26, 2006 - 15:25
BERLIN (AP) - Police said Thursday there was no "concrete danger" in resuming performances of a Mozart opera, cancelled over security concerns because of a scene showing the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Deutsche Oper Berlin had dropped the production of "Idomeneo" after a vague security warning, prompting a furious debate about free speech in Germany and widespread criticism of the cancellation.
"A concrete danger for the Deutsche Oper or those working with it is not seen at the present time," the Berlin police statement said - an assessment that could open the way for a rescheduling of the performances.
Opera head Kirsten Harms has said she would not bring back the production by director Hans Neuenfels without a new security assessment from police. Opera officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The earliest the work could be staged again would be in December, even with a new security guarantee, officials have said.
The police statement said that "what possible measures may be taken by the police or the Deutsche Oper will be discussed in consideration of the situation close to the date of the performance."
It said the findings had been given in writing to the opera and discussed with opera officials.
A scene in the production shows the severed heads of Jesus, Buddha, Neptune and Muhammed.
Director Neuenfels said he had added the scene to the 225-year-old opera as his personal protest against organized religion.
The cancellation became a topic of widespread debate. Chancellor Angela Merkel said that "self-censorship out of fear is not tolerable," and the country's top security official, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, described the move as "crazy.
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The debate followed controversy over remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that quoted a medieval Christian emperor as calling Islam "evil" and "inhuman," and after widespread protest in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed printed in a Danish newspaper.
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