There's no question as to the motive, it appears (religion of peace, blahblahblah):
A Dutch film-maker who received death threats after making a movie criticising the treatment of women under Islam was murdered in an Amsterdam street today.
A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shoot-out with officers that left him wounded, police said.
Theo van Gogh had been threatened after the August airing of his film, Submission, which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth. Van Gogh had received police protection after its release.
In a recent radio interview Van Gogh dismissed the threats and called the movie “the best protection I could have. It’s not something I worry about”.
Police said Van Gogh’s killer shot and stabbed his victim and left a note on his body. They declined to comment on reports that Van Gogh’s neck was slashed.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called on the Dutch people to remain calm and not to jump to conclusions.
In a report by Dutch national broadcaster NOS, an unidentified witness who lives in the neighbourhood said she heard six shots and saw the suspect concealing a gun. She said he walked away slowly, spoke to someone at the edge of the park, and then ran.
She said he was wearing a long beard and Islamic garb and appeared to be either an Arabic man or someone disguised as a Muslim.
Another unidentified witness told Dutch Radio 1 the killer arrived by bicycle and shot Van Gogh as he got out of a car. “He fell backward on the bicycle path and just laid there. The shooter stayed next to him and waited. Waited to make sure he was dead.”
In a written statement, the prime minister said, “Nothing is known about the motive.
“I want to call on everyone not to jump to far-reaching conclusions. The facts must first be carefully weighed so let’s allow the investigators to do their jobs,” he said.
Police declined to comment on the possible motive or to give further details.
Police spokesman Eric Vermeulen said the attacker fled to the nearby East Park, and was arrested after exchanging gunfire with police. Both the suspect and a policeman suffered minor injuries.
Rest of story: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3705691
As for the writer-politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali; some excerpts from one story http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/ned030110.html :
"...she switched political sides from the Dutch labour party to the right-wing liberal VVD. " (I placed this in, because I thought liberal was written in one story.
"In her infant years, she underwent the traditional local ritual of genital mutilation. When Somalia was plunged into turmoil, the family moved to Saudi Arabia, where she was forced to wear a veil and stay indoors."
"Calling herself an ex-Muslim, she documented thousands of cases of physical violence of these women, including beatings, incest and sexual abuse, and railed against the Dutch authorities for doing too little to stop these practices. "
End of excerpts;