A civil servant at the justice ministry who said terror group ISIS does not exist and is a zionist plot has been suspended.

Yasmina Haifi, project leader at the National Cyber Security Centre, said on Wednesday morning on Twitter that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam and is a plot by zionists to blacken the name of Islam.

The outcry that followed did not look as if it would make her take back the words. However, she later deleted the tweet saying: ‘Realise the political sensitivity in relation to my work. This was never my intention.’

On Wednesday afternoon, Haifi was suspended from her job.

Connection

‘Because her remarks have a direct connection with the work of the NCSC, they form a reason for immediate suspension,’ the justice ministry said in a statement.

Both the ministry and the Dutch counter terrorism organisation NCTV said they ‘distance themselves totally’ from Haifi’s remarks.

Fuss

Haifi told Radio 1 she had no idea her comments would cause such a fuss. ‘I assumed I was living in a democratic country,’ she said.

‘Apparently freedom of speech in the Netherlands applies to particular groups and not to others,’ she told Radio 1.