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THU SEP 13 2001 04:09 P.M.
G.M.T.
Muslims in Germany face threats after US attacks BERLIN, Sept 13 (AFP) - Muslims living in Germany have been the target of bomb threats and intimidation following the terrorist strikes against the United States, the Central Council of Muslims in Germany said Thursday. The organization said that on Thursday alone it had received 40 anonymous and threatening e-mails. Council chairman Nadeem Elyas told Phoenix television news channel that mosques should nevertheless open their doors to the public and stressed that Muslims believed they had many friends and partners in Germany. She said that the German Muslim community condemned the US attacks, which authorities said Thursday they believe may have links to a fundamentalist Islamic terror cell in Germany. The German federal commissioner on foreigners, Marieluise Back, called on Islamic representatives to take part in memorial ceremonies for victims of the strikes, scheduled throughout Germany on Friday. She said their participation would send a message that the global process of recovery from the attacks "was not about conflicts between religions but rather the fight against political fundamentalism" and urged the country's churches to reach out the Muslim communities. US Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned that the strikes "should not be seen as something done by Arabs or Islamics," Powell said in a television interview. "It was done by terrorists and we ought to see it that way, and we ought to rally the entire civilized world against this kind of activity." Copyright (c) 2001, AFP |
