January 04, 2009	Sunday	Muharram 06, 1430

PARIS, Jan 3: Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, under threat from religious groups which accuse her of blasphemy in her writings, is to take up residence in Paris, the city hall said on Saturday.

Municipal authorities will provide her with a large studio in an eastern district of the French capital, and initially pay her rent.

Nasreen, who was made an “honorary citizen” of Paris in July last year, put in an application for housing six weeks ago.

“You are at home here, in the city where it was proclaimed that men are born and remain free and equal and nobody can be condemned for their beliefs,” Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said when she was given honorary citizenship. Nasreen was forced to flee her country in 1994 after her novel about the persecution of a Hindu family.—AFP