'Anti-Semitic' Congress Featuring Quenelle Comedian Dieudonne Banned by Belgian Mayor

A congress that attracted some of Europe's leading far-right figures, including controversial comic Dieudonne, has been banned by a Belgian mayor amid claims of anti-semitism.

Anderlecht Mayor Eric Tomas said he cancelled the summit, which was due to take place today (4 May) to ensure public order, as protesters were believed to be planning demonstrations against the event.

Organiser Laurent Lois, a member of the lower house of Belgium's parliament, has rejected claims that the congress is anti-semitic, and urged people to come to the venue, where a "surprise" was planned.

Diedonne, who has convictions for hate speech in France, was scheduled to attend the 'First European Congress of Dissent', as it was billed by organisers.

His controversial quenelle gesture, which was adopted by footballer Nicolas Anelka, has been described as a reverse Nazi salute by anti-racism campaigners and condemned for its anti-Semitic connotations by England's football association.

The Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA, on Friday filed a complaint with the Brussels prosecutor against the event, saying that it would be "a day of hate, that would serve as a platform for the worst gathering of anti-Semite authors, theorists and propagandists that our country has seen since the end of World War II".

In January, Lois' claim that the Holocaust was bankrolled by Zionists was condemned by Belgium's president.

On Saturday, mayors from across the Brussels region met to discuss the planned congress.

Writing on his Facebook page, Lois said it was absurd that his movement "Debout Les Belges!" (Stand up, Belgians!) was regarded as anti-semitic because members had adopted the quenelle salute.