German security officials are increasingly concerned about the growing threat posed by radical Islamic clerics from the ultraconservative Salafi movement, and are calling for legal changes making it easier to deport hate preachers.At a two-day meeting opening Tuesday, security ministers from Germany’s 16 states and federal Interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich are expected to address the threat of Islamic extremism, especially that posed by the increasingly popular Salafis.

Some would like to see residency laws altered to make it easier to deport hate-preachers.

“In the future, this should be possible if someone is disseminating content that is contrary to our free, democratic principles, or serves to promote terrorism,” Hesse state’s interior minister, Boris Rhein, said in comments to Tuesday’s edition of Die Welt daily, released by his ministry.

The Salafi movement is an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam that is close to Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism. Salafis seek to emulate the austerity of Islam’s early days and reject a wide range of practices common in modern democracies, from parliamentary elections to equal rights for women, as “un-Islamic.”

“What the Salafis preach is in conflict with our efforts to promote integration,” Rhein said.

Germany has been at pains over the past years to better its estimated 4.3 million Muslims, who remain largely marginalized in German society. Included in these efforts is funding for teacher-training programs that would prepare clerics to teach Islam in public schools.

According to a recently released report by Hesse state, the region around Frankfurt, the Salafis offer training programs of their own in so-called “Islam Seminars” that have been growing in popularity in Germany since 2002 and serve to spread the values of the Salafis and attract new followers.

“Islam Seminars can also serve as an important station in radicalizing Islamic extremists,” the report said.

Videos of the seminars are often circulated in the Internet, allowing them to reach an even larger number of individuals.

Rhein has also called for limiting extremists’ reach over the Internet, citing the example of the 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian who sought out U.S. airmen at Frankfurt Airport in March and opened fire on them, killing two and injuring two others.

“All of his contacts were linked to Salafi preachers, had taken part in Islam Seminars or were Facebook friends with Salafis,” Rhein said.

The ministers are also seeking to come up with a resolution to differences over whether to extend a raft of laws that were passed in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 to help authorities combat terrorism.

Germany has yet to suffer a large-scale terror attack, but police have broken up some rings suspected of plotting to target public transport or U.S. installations in Germany.

Source : eTaiwan News