German gov't to press Islamic groups to spy on country's Muslims
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Mar 28, IRNA -- The German government is reportedly to press Islamic organizations to spy on the country's 4.3 million Muslims.
New German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich who is in charge officially to coordinate relations with the Islamic community, is to put the issue of what he labeled 'security partnership' with Islamic groups on top of the agenda when he meets formally with Muslims community representatives in Berlin on Tuesday as part of the so-called Islam Conference.
Friedrich who made headlines by saying Islam was not part of Germany only hours after taking the oath of office as interior minister earlier this month, reiterated in an interview with the Deutschlandfunk public radio station that this 'security partnership' should be prioritized in the Islam Conference.
The minister's controversial remarks followed earlier statements by other leading German security official who have also openly called on Muslims to spy in their local mosques amid the ongoing terror hysteria in the country.
The Interior Ministry of the North German State of Lower Saxony Uwe Schuenemann said security officials were 'hardly receiving any information' from inside the mosques.
He made clear it was the duty of Muslims in the mosques to point 'to possible fanatics' among themselves.
Schuenemann urged also what he branded a 'security partnership with Muslim communities.'
His remarks come in the wake of a deepening Islamophobia which has sparked major concern among German Muslims.
Last November, a state senator in Berlin called on people to remain vigilant of 'Arabs and other strange-looking people.' 'When we see something in the neighborhood, say three strange-looking people move in who do not allow their faces to be seen, and who speak only Arabic or another foreign language that we do not understand, then people should have a look and tell the authorities what is going on,' Berlin's Interior State Senator Erhart Koerting was quoted saying in the media.
His racist and Islamophobic statements triggered strong protest by Berlin's sizable Turkish community.
Meanwhile, relations between the center-right government and leading German Muslim organizations like the Central Council of Muslims have continued to deteriorate in recent times as the group is to boycott the Islam Conference over Berlin's refusal to address the key concerns of Muslims, including the worsening problem of Islamophobia.
The Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims Aiman Mazyek said the government-sponsored Islam Conference had to also include a greater part of Germany's Muslim civic society.
He also urged the conference to finally push ahead with the formation working groups which would dwell on aspects of Muslims' lives like granting official recognition to Islam as a religious community in Germany by giving Muslims the same legal rights as Christians and Jews, and seriously tackling Islamophobia.
German Muslim leaders have repeatedly voiced deep concern over growing Islamophobia in their country.
Although the German government has acknowledged Islamophobia has become a serious problem, it has yet to really address the issue.
It's also not expected to be a major focus of the upcoming Islam Conference.
Mosques in Germany have been the target of firebombings in recent months amid growing Islamophobia in the country.
Berlin mosques have been the scene of at least seven arson attacks since June 2010, among them Iranian Islamic Culture Center.
The Sehitlik Mosque, Berlin's biggest mosque, has been firebombed four times over the past months.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
