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The Week in Germany: Current Affairs

August 25, 2006

Schäuble Calls for Cooperation of Muslims in Combating Terror

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called upon German Muslims to find a stronger voice and role in the fight against terrorism. The German government plans to do its part to this end by hosting a conference on Islam next month in Berlin.

"A majority of Muslims must speak up more loudly and say what they think - that they are against terror," Schäuble told weekly newpapser Die Zeit. The cooperation of Muslims was essential in ferreting out any extremists who may lurk in their midst. "The involvement of Muslims is important to limit a new wave of marginalization. We cannot accept that Muslims come under general suspicion," he cautioned.

Schäuble is calling for more dialogue between the government and Muslims

Germany's Central Council of Muslims responded positively to Schäuble's appeal, and proposed stepping up current collaboration with German authorities, according to news agency dpa. "We have been working in close cooperation with the security services for over a year," Aiman A. Mazyek, the Council's general secretary, said on ARD Morgenmagzin, a televised early morning talk show, on August 23.

The Council, an umbrella organization for a range of groups representing Germany's nearly 3.3 million Muslims, has always emphasized that all its members are "responsible as Muslims and as citizens to alert security authorities to any extremist tendencies," he added. "Ninety-nine percent and even more" of the Muslims living in Germany are peace-loving people, Mazyek emphasized.

But they are coming under increasing pressure in the wake of the thwarted aviation terror plot in London and the botched train bombings in Germany, he told German news agency dpa. The Council, one of several Muslim organizations in Germany, has been receiving more threatening messages via email and through the mail, leading him to fear for a split in society, he said.

"We have to work against this, because in the end the terrorists will triumph if this split occurs," Mazyek warned. "Integration policies are failing to bear fruit, which is cause for concern," he added.

According to Schäuble, the Islam Conference scheduled for late September in Berlin will aim to establish better contacts between authorities and Muslims in Gemany. "We want to encourage the Muslims to organize a representative body," he said, adding that Germany's 16 states need a partner if they are to participate in Islamic instruction at schools or help organize the education of Imams. "I want to make a contribution so that Muslims recognize that Islam is accepted as a part of Germany, a part of Europe."

Topics due to be tackled at the conference, with a view to establishing an ongoing forum for dialogue, include German society, Islam, religion under German law, business, media and security issues.

Bundesinnenministerium (Interior Ministry)

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