German authorities yesterday outlawed an Islamic organisation with possible links to terrorism and raided over 200 offices and mosques as part of a crack-down on extremist groups in the country.
The Cologne-based Caliphate organisation, banned yesterday along with 19-related groups, has over 1,100 members in Germany. Its leader, Mr Muhammed Metin Kaplan, is currently in a Dⁿsseldorf prison and may be extradited to Turkey to face charges of high treason.
"Caliphate is engaged in an aggressive and militant way against constitutional order," said Mr Otto Schily, the German interior minister, yesterday.
The organisation, which calls for the secular Turkish government to be overthrown and replaced with an Islamic one, is "anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and endangers interior security", Mr Schily said. Meanwhile police yesterday raided over 200 premises removing religious books, videos and other material.
The ban was made possible by a package of anti-terror measures enacted by the government after the September 11th attacks.
Until a law change last week, religious groups were subject to a privilege which made it harder for authorities to investigate and share information about them.
Plans to remove this privilege were already being prepared, but were given fresh impetus after it emerged that terrorist cells in Hamburg disguised as religious groups helped plan the September attacks.
A second package of anti-terrorism legislation is in the final drafting stage and could be approved by parliament as early as next week. Authorities had been observing Caliphate for years and suspect its leader of having links with Osama Bin Laden. Caliphate says the ban undermines the constitutional right to religious freedom and plans legal action.
