Germany raids Islamist groups

A network of extremist Islamic groups based in Germany was outlawed yesterday under new legislation that lets the state act to dissolve religious organisations with suspected links to terrorism.

During the day searches and raids were carried out on houses, offices and mosques in seven German states, the police said.

The Kaplan organisation, a Cologne-based Islamic group, and a sister foundation, the Servants of Islam, were banned along with 19 connected organisations, involving a total of 1,100 members, the interior ministry said.

The nationwide clampdown follows the introduction of a controversial security package assembled by the interior minister, Otto Schily, after the September 11 attacks on the US.

Under the new law approved by Germany's centre-left coalition last month, a so-called "religion privilege" clause was struck from the statute books, removing protection for any organisations suspected of promoting terrorism.

Police have said that a number of members of the raided groups are known to have travelled to Afghanistan to meet supporters of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network in the late 1990s.

The Kaplan group, led by Metin Kaplan, nicknamed the "Caliph of Cologne", has been under the police spotlight for years.

Kaplan, a native Turk, was sentenced to four years in a Düsseldorf jail a year ago for calling for the murder of a religious rival. He is wanted in Turkey on treason charges.

The authorities in Germany had been reluctant to hand him over until assurances were given that he would not face the death penalty. But yesterday Mr Schily said that extradition proceedings were "immediately enforceable"; talks had begun with Ankara.