Taslima Nasreen's visa extended

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Indian authorities have extended a visa allowing controversial Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen to live in the country for another six months.

Ms Nasreen, whose visa was to expire on Sunday, has been in a safe house in the capital Delhi since November.

She was moved here after protests against her by Muslims in the eastern city of Calcutta, where she was living.

Some Muslim groups say parts of her book Dwikhondito (Split into two) are derogatory to Islam.

Ms Nasreen later said she would withdraw some "controversial" lines from the book.

The novel was banned by the government in India's West Bengal state where a quarter of the population is Muslim.

'Curbs on freedom'

Ms Nasreen was moved from one city to another in November after violent protests in Calcutta and finally lodged in a safe house in Delhi.

The Indian government has pledged to continue to host and protect Ms Nasreen.

But External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament that India expected its guest to behave as one.

Protests against the author turned violent in Calcutta

Ms Nasreen has said she is happy to have her Indian visa extended.

"But the curbs on freedom of my movement and expression would remain," she was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

She said she would like to return to Calcutta soon.

Critics have accused the writer of calling for the Koran to be changed to give women greater rights, something she denies.

Ms Nasreen fled Bangladesh in the early 1990s after death threats and has spent the last three years in Calcutta after a long stay in Europe.

Last August, she was giving a lecture in the southern city of Hyderabad when she was attacked by Muslims who said they had been upset by her remarks on the Prophet Muhammad and the Koran.