In light of the renewed threat against Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westegard, Ayaan Hirsi Ali - who has also been on the receiving end of death threats - has called on MEPs to set up an EU fund to pay for security for citizens facing such threats.

Appearing before a small audience of MEPs - several of whom are petitioning for the EU to foot the bill for Ms Hirsi Ali’s security team - the Somali-born Muslim said: “The threats to my life have not subsided,” but she had found herself in the “embarrassing situation” of having to fundraise for her own security.

Her case is being picked up by the media - especially in France where she arrived last week, with the backing of prominent French intellectuals, to request French citizenship. According to the French media, Elysee Palace has been considering establishing a European fund to help people like her and there is speculation that Paris may suggest something during its EU presidency in the second half of this year.

Ms Hirsi Ali has been under high level security since 2004 when Theo van Gogh was murdered by an Islamist extremist. A letter found on the Dutch film-maker’s body threatened her by name.

She left the Netherlands for the United States in May 2006 following a row over the details of her original asylum request for the Netherlands and, in October 2007, the Dutch government stopped paying for her security detail.

The Dutch position is that she that is no longer based in the country and the US government says it does not pay for personal protection of citizens.

This leaves her in the position of being unable to remain in the US and unable to return to the Netherlands because of the continuing death threats.

She has some high-profile backers for her campaign to get a European protection fund set up.

French writer Bernard-Henri Levi referred to the Fatwa death sentence issued on British author Salman Rushdie, noting that the British government continues to pay for his protection although he resides in the US.

He said the “shame should be put on the people [in the Dutch government] who took this decision [to stop the funding]” and called on Europe “to prove itself.”

The petition for a fund, initiated by French socialist MEP Benoit Hamon, has around 100 signatures.

Mr Harmon is intending to take the issue up with leaders of the parliamentary political groups to try to persuade them to launch a pilot project using the parliament’s own budget. This would release about €50 million for the fund.

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