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| Europe |
| Germany bans Bavarian Islamist group |
| 2005-12-28 |
| The German state of Bavaria banned a radical Islamist group on Wednesday, saying materials seized from its offices urged Muslims to murder Jews and Christians. "With today‘s ban of the Multi-Kultur-Haus (MKH) association, Bavaria is making the limits clear to supporters of foreign extremist organisations," the state‘s interior minister, Guenther Beckstein, said in a statement. He said authorities raided the association‘s offices on Wednesday morning and seized a number of items. As the group is based in Bavaria, the ban effectively shuts it down. Bavarian authorities had been watching the MHK in the town of Neu-Ulm for some time. Security officials had previously seized textbooks and other publications, materials Beckstein said clearly showed the group‘s radical nature. One book seized from the MHK library called on Sunni Muslims to "execute Jews and Christians as infidels," the statement said. An audio cassette said: "Oh worthy ones, oh friends of love, send us bombs to kill the Jews with. No to the Jews, no to the Jews!" A confiscated compact disc glorified the death of martyrs and described the rebellion in Chechnya as "a wonderful example of Islamic unity thanks to brother Muslims from all over the world who have joined the Jihad." Beckstein, who has deported Islamists in the past for what Germany calls "preaching hate," warned of further moves against any similar groups. "Organisations which are aggressive in nature ... and call for the use of violence will not be tolerated here," he said. Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese origin who was mistakenly kidnapped by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and imprisoned for five months in Afghanistan, is from Neu-Ulm. A German security official told Reuters last week that Masri appeared to be a fringe player on the town‘s Islamist scene before he was seized by the CIA under its "rendition" policy of moving terrorism suspects from one country to another. A Hamburg-based cell of al Qaeda has been blamed for the September 11 attacks on America. Since then, Germany has cracked down on Muslim militants living in the country and has had a number of high-profile trials of radical Islamists. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 So now they just change their name and open up shop someplace else. They know how to play this game. |
| Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu 2005-12-28 14:52 |
| #1 Nice work, TGA. We misss you! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-12-28 14:40 |