German wrote 'Koran' on toilet paper; faces trial

A German who printed the name of the Koran on toilet paper and offered the rolls for sale to mosques and media is to face trial for disturbing the public peace, an official said Thursday. The businessman, identified only as Manfred van H., will go on trial Feb. 23 at a court in Luedinghausen in western Germany, said Jochen Dyhr, a spokesman for judicial authorities in nearby Muenster. The businessman last summer printed sheets of toilet paper with the sentence "Koran, the Holy Qur'aen" and sent them to some 15 mosques, television stations and magazines. In an accompanying letter, authorities say, he asserted that Islam's holy book is a "cookbook for terrorists" that calls for acts of violence.