A report on Islamonline stemming from Cairo has quoted an Italian Northern League politician as vowing to “continue the fight of the Knights of the Order of Malta to defend Christianity”.

The report was in reference to a report published in yesterday’s issue of the Financial Times which said a far-right Italian party is planning to table a draft law that would effectively block the construction of mosques in Italy.

The Northern League will present to parliament next week a bill that requires regional approval and a local referendum for building mosques.

It would also mandate that mosques should have no minaret or loudspeakers calling the faithful to prayer. The motion demands that mosques will have to be at least one kilometre away from any nearby church and that sermons be delivered in Italian, not Arabic.

The motion, according to Islamonline, is only supported by the small, ultra-Catholic UDC party with no immediate support from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party or from the ex-Fascist National Alliance.

The website also mentioned that on 8 August, Northern League MP Mario Borghezio burst into a church in the northern city of Genoa shouting anti-Islam statements. He vowed to “continue the fight of the Knights of the Order of Malta to defend Christianity.”

The website said the Sovereign Military Order of Malta began as a Christian charity in Al-Quds in 1080 to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land.