Rotterdam city council has sacked its controversial advisor on integration Tariq Ramadan, the NRC reports on Tuesday, quoting council sources.
The paper says officials believe Ramadan can no longer 'lead the dialogue in the city' because he himself has become part of the debate. Last week it emerged that Ramadan presents a weekly programme on Iran's Press TV which is paid for by the Iranian authorities.
Ramadan, 46, has been attached to the city council for two years and is a visiting professor at Erasmus University, a post paid for by Rotterdam, the paper says.
In an open letter on his website, Ramadan says: 'The present controversy says far more about the alarming state of politics in the Netherlands than about my person.'