Germany
to curb mosque funding from Gulf States.
The
German government has started to request that those countries register any funding they
may provide to mosques in
Germany, a report says. The move aims to discourage radicalization in German
mosques.
The German Foreign Ministry wants Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and other Gulf states to register any donations or state
subsidies intended for mosques in Germany.
According to daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and German broadcasters WDR and
NDR, the government has involved both the domestic and foreign intelligence
services to monitor who sends the money and who receives it.
The Gulf states are also required to
alert German authorities if a religious group from Germany seeks support or
advice in their country.
The new practice, which the report says
has already been in place since the spring, follows on from Interior Minister
Horst Seehofer's comments at Germany's Islam conference in November, where he
pledged to reduce "foreign influence" on Germany's mosques.
The report says that cooperation with
Kuwait, in particular, on this issue is already bearing fruit. Other states are
apparently more hesitant.
Mosque tax floated - One
controversial idea that has been floated in the last few weeks is to introduce a mosque tax that – similar to the German
church tax that members of the Protestant and Catholic churches have to pay –
would make mosques more financially independent and thus minimize the risk of
radicalization fueled by money from rich Muslim-majority states.
Based on reports from Germany's Joint
Counter-terrorism Center (GTAZ), the government has been surveilling
"Salafist missionary activities from the Arab Gulf states" since
2015, when tens of thousands of refugees came to Germany.
The GTAZ says countries like Saudi
Arabia have "long-term strategies" to influence radical groups of
Islam, which Riyadh has denied. German intelligence also suggests that "missionary
groups" from the Gulf States are increasingly interlinked with Salafists
in Germany and Europe.
The report published by German
broadcasters points out that there are no reliable figures on exactly how
much money has been transferred to radical groups in Germany
from the Gulf States.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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