A suspected Islamic fundamentalist with alleged terrorist ties is being held at a Dutch prison hospital today for the killing of a Dutch filmmaker who criticised the treatment of women under Islam, Dutch authorities said.

Theo van Gogh, 47, was repeatedly shot and stabbed to death in an Amsterdam street on Tuesday, police said. The culprit was shot in the leg during a shootout with police.

Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said the suspect "acted out of radical Islamic fundamentalist convictions," and that he had contacts with a group that was under surveillance by the Dutch secret service.

Police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Moroccan and Dutch citizenship whose name was not released, had a record of violent crime. He is allegedly a friend of an 18-year-old Muslim of Moroccan origin, Samir Azzouz, who is awaiting trial on charges of planning a terrorist attack on targets including a nuclear reactor and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, NOS Dutch television reported.

Dutch newspapers ran extensive coverage on the killing with angry headlines and witness accounts. The Telegraaf daily read "Butchered" over a large colour photograph of Van Gogh’s body with a knife protruding from his chest. The killer shot Van Gogh eight or nine times and put his weapon in the pocket of a beige raincoat before bending over his victim and cutting his throat with a knife, according to the Algemeen Dagblad.

The Dutch government held late night crisis meetings and the Immigration Minister met with Muslim groups to discuss how to avoid violent confrontations with the Muslim community.

The film by Van Gogh, the great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh’s brother, was aired in August on Dutch television, drawing the ire of some Muslims.

Dutch Muslim groups, despite disagreeing with Van Gogh’s views on Islam, condemned the killing and called for reconciliation. They expressed fears of possible reprisals against Muslims.

Around 20,000 people poured onto Amsterdam’s central square in an emotional demonstration of support for Van Gogh and against violence.

Van Gogh, an award-winning filmmaker, television producer and newspaper columnist, was a controversial figure. He once mocked a prominent Dutch Jew, referred to Jesus as "the rotten fish" of Nazareth and called a radical Muslim politician "Allah’s pimp."

His murder came at a time of increased tensions in the Netherlands, where many blame violent crime on the Muslim minority, mainly made up of immigrants. Muslims, in turn, say new anti-immigration and anti-terrorism laws unfairly discriminate against them.

Police said van Gogh was shot twice as he biked along an Amsterdam street. The assailant then shot him several more times at close range before stabbing him and placing a note on his body.

The killing instantly recalled the assassination of anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn, who was killed in 2002 by an animal rights activist. His death had shocked the people of a country where violent political crime is extremely rare.

Van Gogh said he had received threats after the airing of his film Submission, which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth. Police kept watch on van Gogh’s house immediately after the film’s airing but dropped that precaution because there was no concrete evidence of a threat, public prosecutor Leo de Wit said.

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