Belgian extreme right targeted

Brussels - Anti-racism groups have taken legal steps towards stripping a Belgian far-right party of funding by charging that …

Brussels - Anti-racism groups have taken legal steps towards stripping a Belgian far-right party of funding by charging that three related organisations promote discrimination, their lawyer said yesterday.

The anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok party made large gains in local elections last Sunday, winning 33 per cent of the vote in the country's second-largest city, Antwerp, and increasing its support throughout the Dutch-speaking northern region.

The National Centre against Racism and the Flemish Human Rights League filed a criminal suit against organisations for supporting the Vlaams Blok, their lawyer, Mr Luc Walleyn, said.