Member of the Swiss Political Party that Pushed for Minaret Ban Converts to Islam

The news about Switzerland's ban on the construction of minarets has made the headlines, providing shocking evidence of the strength of increasing intolerance in Europe. I shall be writing more about the minaret ban and its implications later, God willing, but right now I wanted to share an interesting side note.

Daniel Streich was a member of the Swiss People's party (SVP), the political party that pushed the minaret ban initiative. Streich is a military instructor in the Swiss Army and a local politician in the commune of Bulle. Formerly a devout Christian, he converted to Islam�"and kept it a secret for two years.
Streich has left the SVP, made his conversion to Islam public, and has denounced the SVP's anti-Muslim campaign as a witch hunt. As far as I can tell, this story has not broken in the English language press. So, I translated a news article on Streich from German to English, published at the Swiss news site Twenty Minutes Online. Here it is:

Daniel Streich, military instructor and, until recently, a Swiss People's Party (SVP) politician in the city of Bulle, has left the party. The reason: He converted to Islam. For two years he kept this secret from his ex-party. Now, with the "witch hunt against Islam," this situation has become unbearable for him.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Member-of-the-Swiss-Politi-by-Jason-Hamza-van-Bo-091204-506.html