Sunday, June 23, 2013
There is speculation that he might now fly on to another country.
Hong Kong said Washington had failed to meet the requirements for extradition.
Mr Snowden, an intelligence contractor, fled to Hong Kong in May after revealing details of internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence.
The Aeroflot flight, SU213, landed in Moscow at 17:10 local time (13:10 GMT).
The Russia 24 TV channel has said Mr Snowden does not have a Russian visa, so will stay in the airport overnight before, the channel says, flying to Cuba on Monday.
A source at the airline company was quoted as saying that, from Cuba, he would fly on to Venezuela. Both countries are believed unlikely to comply with any US extradition request.
Whistleblowing website Wikileaks has issued a statement saying that it has helped to find him "political asylum in a democratic country". » | Sunday, June 23, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Politik direkt »
PJ MEDIA: Chrislam gains a powerful new voice, in one of the heads of the Catholic church in the United States.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, made his first visit to a mosque in New York City and it was the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Tompkinsville where he met with Muslim and other faith leaders.
The cardinal spent more than two hours touring the mosque and the Miraj Islamic School and having lunch with about 40 clergy and laity.
“I thank God that this day has arrived,” the cardinal said. “I thank you for your welcome, I thank you for making me feel like a friend and a member of a family.”
The cardinal asked questions about the Muslim faith and emphasized throughout his visit how much the two religions and their members have in common.
“You love God, we love God and he is the same God,” the cardinal said of the Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths. » | Bryan Preston | Friday, June 21, 2013
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE: Photos, video: Cardinal Dolan makes first visit to NYC mosque, meets with Staten Island Muslim leaders: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, made his first visit to a mosque in New York City and it was the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Tompkinsville where he met with Muslim and other faith leaders. » | Maura Grunlund, Staten Island Advance | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Dick Cheney told Fox News that because Edward Snowden leaked classified information, he is a traitor. But wait, wait, wait, Dick! Does a name like "Scooter Libby" ring any bells? Is it okay for Cheney to leak info for his own benefit but not okay for anyone to expose him? Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
THE GUARDIAN: Charges include theft of government property and unauthorised communication of national defence information
The US has filed espionage charges against the NSA whistleblowerEdward Snowden and reports say authorities have requested that Hong Kong detain him for extradition. Legislators in Hong Kong responded by calling for mainland China to intervene in the case.
Snowden, 29, is charged with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorised person, according to court documents.
Snowden is reported to be in hiding in Hong Kong. The Washington Post said the US had asked the autonomous Chinese territory to detain the former NSA contractor on a provisional arrest warrent, while other reports cited US officials as saying preparations were being made to seek his extradition.
One Hong Kong legislator, Leung Kwok-hung, said Beijing should instruct Hong Kong to protect Snowden from extradition before the case was dragged through the court system. Leung also urged the people of Hong Kong to "take to the streets to protect Snowden". Another lawmaker, Cyd Ho, vice-chair of the pro-democracy Labour party, said China "should now make its stance clear to the Hong Kong SAR [special administrative region] government". » | Agencies in Washington DC | Saturday, June 22, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer are due to join an EDL march in Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was killed.
The pair are prominent "anti-Islamisation" campaigners in the US.
Home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz claims their presence will fuel hatred and is calling for them to be denied visas.
Mr Vaz said: "I am alarmed that the EDL is planning this type of march in Woolwich. It is clear that the location, motivation and attendees at this march will incite hatred.
"Adding incendiary speakers such as Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer just fuels the fire.
"Before we have to pay the costs for the extra policing required for this demonstration, the Home Secretary should consider using her discretion to ban these two speakers from entering the country.
"A ban should be enforced properly and physically stop people entering our borders."
'Extremists'
The Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases but the home secretary was aware of Mr Vaz's letter and would be responding in due course.
Mrs May has the power to exclude non-British citizens from the UK if she considers their presence to be "not conducive to the public good" but she must act in a "reasonable, proportionate and consistent" way. » | Friday, June 21, 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: Right-wing American speakers planning to join the EDL's Woolwich march 'should be banned from entering the country': Keith Vaz calls on the Home Secretary to ban the founders of Jihad Watch and the American Freedom Defence Initiative who hope to join the EDL's march in memory of Drummer Lee Rigby » | Kevin Rawlinson | Friday, June 21, 2013
BBC iPLAYER: Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer visit the UK: Nihal asks whether American anti-Islam activists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller should be banned from the UK and meets Sarbjit Kaur Athwal to talk about her book, Shamed. »
EDL Leader Tommy Robinson on BBC 5 Live (June 21, 2013) »
Related »
EXPRESS: THE English Defence League has invited two far-right, anti-Islam activists from America to a party rally in Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was brutally murdered.
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two high-profile bloggers who founded the 'Stop The Islamization of America' campaign, were invited to speak at the march by the EDL.
The pair are infamously known for their anti-Islam subway posters in New York which read, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad."
Fears have now been raised over the two "incendiary" right-wing American speakers coming to the UK.
Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Keith Vaz has written to the Home Secretary calling for Geller and Spencer to be banned from entering the country. » | Charlotte Meredith | Friday, June 21, 2013
My comment:
Has it ever occurred to the powers-that-be that we wouldn't need all these people in counter-jihad activities if our governments in the West were doing their jobs properly? People feel threatened by the growth of Islam and the activities of the Jihadists. They see that their governments are doing nothing about these phenomena, so they are taking matters into their own hands. One sure-fire way of putting an end to all this would be for our governments to grow backbones, stand up the obvious dangers that lie ahead of us, stop pandering to the people who would bring about an abrupt end to our way of life, and make the people feel safe again. It's really that simple. But there is one proviso: we need politicians with courage; and that is precisely what we do not have. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
Mohammed Katta's mother witnessed the execution of her son in three stages.
She was upstairs at home when she first heard the shouting. The people of the neighbourhood were yelling that "they have brought back the kid", so she rushed out of her apartment.
"I went out on my balcony," Nadia Umm Fuad said. "I said to his father, they are going to shoot your son! Come! Come! Come! I was on the stairs when I heard the first shot. I was at the door when I heard the second shot.
"I saw the third shot. I was shouting, 'That's haram, forbidden! Stop! Stop! You are killing a child.' But they just gave me a dirty look and got into their car. As they went, they drove over my son's arm, as he lay there dying."
Mohammed was 14 when he was killed, earlier this month, prompting international condemnation. He has become a symbol of the fears many Syrians have for the future of a country where jihadists are vying with the regime for control. » | Richard Spencer, Aleppo | Friday, June 21, 2013
The Argentinian Pope said the apostolic nuncios, as the Holy See ambassadors are known, should eschew a “bourgeois” style of life and reject the pursuit of worldly goods.
He said they had a vital role in the countries they represent by making recommendations for clergy who should be made bishops.
But he urged them to avoid candidates who were overly ambitious or showed “a princely psychology”. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Friday, June 21, 2013
Plans for the German chancellor and the Russian president to jointly open an exhibition at St Petersburg's Hermitage museum tonight have been cancelled by the Russian government because Mrs Merkel planned to call for the return of the artefacts in her speech.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is a hoard of 81 gold pieces including gold plate, rings and ornate bowls that has never been seen in public since the end of the war.
The Eberswalde Hoard, discovered during an excavation north-east of Berlin in 1913, was removed from a museum in the German capital by Soviet troops and transported to Moscow as war booty.
German government spokesman Georg Streiter said Mrs Merkel had planned to use her speech at the opening of the exhibition to call for the return of the art in accordance with international law.
The spokesman said Russia had cancelled the opening speeches by the two leaders, blaming a lack of time. » | Jeevan Vasagar, Berlin | Friday, June 21, 2013
Turkey's chances of a breaking a three-year stalemate and relaunching its bid to join the European Union look like being dashed because of the government's ruthless response to three weeks of street protests amid worsening friction between Ankara and Berlin.
The foreign ministry in Berlin summoned the Turkish ambassador to Germany on Friday to explain the harsh language directed at the chancellor, Angela Merkel, by Egemen Bağis, the Turkish official in charge of negotiations with the EU.
Merkel had said earlier this week that she was "appalled at the very tough" response by the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in ordering riot police to clear central Istanbul of thousands of protesters last weekend.
Bağis accused the chancellor of playing domestic politics, said that anyone using Turkey for political purposes would suffer "an inauspicious end" and warned of severe retaliation if the negotiations were called off.
Turkey opened negotiations to join the EU eight years ago, at the same time as Croatia. While Croatia joins next week as the 28th member, Turkey's bid has been frozen for three years and it has closed just one of the 35 chapters of EU law required to complete the accession. Another 12 chapters have been opened.
Merkel and the German centre-right remain firmly opposed to Turkey joining. Her Christian Democrats' draft manifesto for the general elections in September states: "We reject full membership for Turkey because it does not meet the conditions for EU entry. Additionally, the EU would be overstretched because of [Turkey's] size and because of its economic structures."
Exasperated by the slow progress, Ankara has taken to warning that the EU needs Turkey more than it needs Europe. The Germans, French and Dutch take a different view. » | Ian Traynor in Istanbul | Friday, June 21, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England is trying to recruit pagans and spiritual believers as part of a drive to retain congregation numbers.
The church [sic] is training ministers to create “a pagan church where Christianity [is] very much in the centre” to attract spiritual believers.
Ministers are being trained to create new forms of Anglicanism suitable for people of alternative beliefs as part of a Church of England drive to retain congregation numbers.
Reverend Steve Hollinghurst, a researcher and adviser in new religious movements told the BBC: “I would be looking to formulate an exploration of the Christian faith that would be at home in their culture.”
He said it would be “almost to create a pagan church where Christianity was very much in the centre.” » | Radhika Sanghani | Friday, June 21, 2013
THE ATLANTIC: An interview with a professor who was attacked for standing up for secularism.
After a trial lasting more than a year, on May 2 Habib Kazdaghli, dean of the faculty of letters, arts, and humanities at the University of Manouba, outside Tunis, was acquitted of charges that he slapped a veiled female student. He had faced a five-year jail term. Instead, the court found guilty the two women who had invaded Kazdaghli's office and thrown his books and papers on the floor. The women claimed to be protesting their suspension from the university for refusing to remove their full-face coverings, known as niqabs, during class lectures and exams.
The court sentenced the women to suspended four-month and two-month jail sentences for damaging property and interfering with a public servant carrying out his duties. Their lawyer said the women would appeal, and Tunisia's minister of higher education -- overruling Kazdaghli and setting him up for another round of conflict -- announced that veiled students would be allowed to take their final exams.
The Kazdaghli affair, a cause célèbre with more than 230,000 Google results, is part of a larger struggle for power in post-revolutionary Tunisia. After the uprising that toppled dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 -- sparking the onset of the Arab Spring -- the University of Manouba became a battleground between fundamentalist Muslims intent on turning Tunisia into an Islamic state and secular forces trying to maintain the country's existing constitutional rights and legal system.
Closed for almost two months in the spring of 2012, the University was rocked by strikes and pitched battles between progressive students and the ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims known as salafists. The lobby in Kazdaghli's building was turned into a prayer room. Protesters camped in front of his door for a month. "This was meant to intimidate me, but also to catch me in a kind of trap," says Kazdaghli. "You are not supposed to walk through a room where someone is praying." So every time he entered or left his office, Kazdaghli was demonstrating his lack of faith. » | Thomas A. Bass | Thursday, June 20, 2013
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: While Spanish Muslims are busy trying to Islamize Spain, Spanish politicians are busy removing all references to Christianity from public discourse…The requirement which will be enshrined in Spain's legal code law, represents an unprecedented encroachment of Islamic Sharia law within Spanish jurisprudence.
Spanish police have arrested a Muslim immigrant in Mallorca after he claimed to have been sent by Allah to "kill all the Spanish."
The arrest follows a series of other Islam-related incidents in recent weeks and months which reflect the mounting challenge that radical Islam is posing to Spain.
In the latest incident, police on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca arrested a German national of Tunisian descent on June 13 after he repeatedly threatened to carry out terror attacks in the name of Allah.
According to Spanish authorities, the man made "constant threats of death and references to being a Muslim" and warned, "I do not mind dying; if I have to die, I will die, but I will take plenty of others with me." The man threatened to blow up a hairdressing academy in the Mallorcan capital of Palma and "kill everyone."
The man said he had "terrorist friends who could plant bombs" and warned that "soon the Muslims will be kings of the world."
Spanish police said the man -- who had previously been arrested on February 15 for threatening to kill a local policeman -- became radicalized after visiting Tunisia in 2012. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, July 21, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British Muslims were outraged by the Woolwich attack – but it is being used to slur our entire community, writes Sadiq Khan.
Much has been written in the past month in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby. One unifying message has been the importance of communities standing together, in the face of the threats posed by those claiming to follow a particularly violent political version of Islam, and from far-right groups such as the EDL and BNP. One recent contribution to the debate came from the esteemed journalist Charles Moore, whose recent biography of Margaret Thatcher is a mighty tome of diligence and detail. In contrast, his words in last Saturday’s Telegraph were a clumsy foray into a territory about which he appears to know very little.
Some of his claims in his piece are so wide of the mark they warrant specific rebuttal. Take his claim that “the only serious violence was against a British soldier” – try telling that to those from across the community in Muswell Hill on finding that the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre had been burnt to the ground, or to the 182 staff and pupils evacuated from the Darul Uloom School in Chiselhurst, traumatised by an arson attack in the middle of the night.
In his piece, Moore states that “the EDL is merely reactive” as if that’s OK. It’s far from OK. Many of the darkest chapters in recent human history have sprung from reactionary movements gaining a foothold in society. But to go on and equate the EDL with groups like Tell Mama, the charity that records incidents against the Muslim community as well as providing advice and support on how to deal with Islamophobia, as Charles Moore's piece does, is ridiculous. I don’t recall seeing those running Tell Mama flicking fascist salutes while standing next to memorials for the war dead.
Charles Moore fears that those criticising Islamist organisations for being pro-violence will be rounded on. On the contrary, not only is there no place in British society for such extremist positions, but there is no place in my religion, the religion that I share with 2.7 million others across the UK. It is incumbent on us all to root out the bad apples, and not shy away from tackling head on the very small numbers who preach hatred and violence. » | Sadiq Khan, MP | Thursday, June 20, 2013
My comment:
This article is a whitewash of Islam. For starters, were the Muslim community to have been truly outraged by the beheading of Lee Rigby, they'd have come out into the streets showing us their rage. After all, they're pretty good at showing rage when they want to do so, witness the rage that ensued upon the publication of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
Further, you say that Islam is not incompatible with "Britishness." I beg to differ. It is hardly British to keep one's women in purdah; nor is it British for women to be covered from head-to-toe. To be British is to respect democracy and freedom. Islam fails on both counts: it respects neither democracy nor freedom. And as a British politician and Muslim, you should be very aware of where the problems lie. For democracy to flourish, there has to be a strict separation of Church and state. In the case of Islam, that would have to be mosque and state. But Islam respects no such separation. Indeed, Islam boasts that the political and the spiritual in Islam are one indivisible, coherent whole. I think you should read my essay on the subject here.
Where there is no separation of the religious and the political, there is no true democracy. I really would have thought you'd have understood that, being a British politician as you are.
You also say that Islam is "British" because it is about respect, tolerance, and understanding. You know that Islam is neither respectful nor tolerant nor understanding. How much respect do Muslims show for homosexuals, for example? Or people of other faiths?
I'm sorry to say, Mr. Khan, but your article is full of flaws. It is neither true nor believable. – © Mark
This comment should be available to read here also; but the moderators have taken it down. It appears that The Daily Telegraph is no longer the newspaper which stands up for the truth, or for the indigenous population of the United Kingdom. They prefer to silence us, and give Muslims a voice instead. I find this policy to be reprehensible, especially because it makes newspapers like the Telegraph enablers.
AL ARABIYA: The FBI has charged two men in Albany, New York with making an X-ray weapon that they intended to use to sicken opponents of Israel, “specifically Muslims,” reported The Guardian on Thursday.
An indictment charges Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, and Eric J. Feight, 54, with conspiracy to provide support to “terrorists” with the weapon.
The men appeared in federal court separately on Wednesday and were ordered detained until hearings on Thursday. They could face up to 15 years jail time.
Investigators have revealed that Crawford approached Jewish organizations in 2012, looking for funding and technical guidance to build a weapon that could secretly deliver damaging doses of radiation against those considered to be enemies of Israel.
“Crawford has specifically identified Muslims and several other individuals/groups as targets,” investigator Geoffrey Kent stated in a court affidavit. » | Al Arabiya | Thursday, June 20, 2013
The European Parliament's legal committee recommended that the National Front leader have her protection from prosecution as an MEP revoked, which could result in her being put on trial.
The full parliament is expected to formally lift her legal immunity after a vote on the recommendation on July 3.
Le Pen sparked outrage after she slammed Muslims praying in the street in areas where there are no mosques in a speech to National Front supporters in December 2010.
"For those who like to talk about World War II, to talk about occupation, we could talk about, for once, the occupation of our territory," Le Pen told the rally.
"There are no armoured vehicles, no soldiers, but it is an occupation all the same and it weighs on people." » | Charlotte Meredith | Thursday, June 20, 2013
My comment:
Why should Marine Le Pen face prosecution for stating the obvious? It is indeed as though France had been occupied by a foreign power. During WWII it was the fascists; now it is by the Islamo-fascists. What's the difference? They are both anti-democratic, totalitarian ideologies. In my opinion, it is an outrage that Marine Le Pen cannot state what is on her mind without being liable to prosecution. Aren't people to be allowed independent thought from now on? Has political correctness taken such a hold on the weak-minded politicians in the West that stating anything other than pc platitudes is 'strengstens verboten'? – © Mark
This comment also appears here
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tony Blair's Muslim convert sister-in-law Lauren Booth said today she is scared of being attacked by men on public transport following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.
Miss Booth said that after the soldier was brutally hacked to death in Woolwich she has seen 'grown men looking like they want to hit Muslim women' when she is travelling in London.
The 45-year-old half-sister of Cherie Blair ventures out in traditional Islamic dress and wears a hijab head-covering.
She converted to Islam two years ago and married Sohale Ahmed, 49, in a Muslim ceremony earlier this year.
Miss Booth, wearing a patterned hijab, said on ITV's Daybreak this morning that when she converted two years ago she was not treated any differently.
But in the aftermath of the murder of Lee Rigby close to Woolwich Barracks in south-east London last month she said that has changed.
'When I came to Islam two years ago and I first put on the scarf I was nervous about going on the Underground, I thought everyone is going to see me differently, and everyone was beautiful towards me,' she said.
'I was invisible for a few weeks and then I noticed that British people were smiling, same as we always do, we're really good at that, we're really good at absorbing and accepting people.
'But honestly, in the last two weeks I've been getting public transport and there are grown men looking like they want to hit Muslim women, and I'm a tall, white woman, I'm not easily threatened, but I have felt scared at times, so there is a change unfortunately.' » | Rob Cooper | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
July 1996 - A historic report filmed when Refah, the Islamic party in Turkey, formed a new government following the collapse of the secular government.
By reforming a once derelict part of Istanbul, Mayor Nusret Bayraktar has shown a new face to Turkish Islam. In the conservative villages of its traditional heartland, women remain secondary citizens. A 17 year old bride submits to an arranged marriage and waits nervously as her menfolk revel with blonde dancers imported from the city. As young villagers migrate to the towns, Refah is developing its urban power base. In his artist's garret, Bedri Baykarn, arch Islamic opponent, advocates military intervention if Refah jeopardises Turkish democracy. In defending the constitution, Security forces often resort to torture and political murder. At a peaceful demonstration, police beat the protesters with battens, chasing them until they fall to the ground in panic. Only a village picnic shows how Turks, Islamic or secular, unite to celebrate a history of both modern and traditional values. As families sing and dance under the trees, Refah's success depends upon maintaining this delicate social balance. Interview with deputy Rafah leader, Abdullah Gul.
BBC: Italian fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have been sentenced to jail in Italy for one year and eight months for tax evasion.
The pair were not at the trial and deny the charges.
They are accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.
Dolce and Gabbana have not yet given a public comment on the sentence and are likely to appeal the verdict. They are said to be unlikely to go to jail any time soon.
Their customers have included Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss and Bryan Ferry. » | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Kämpfer der radikalen Shabab-Miliz haben das Gebäude der Vereinten Nationen in der somalischen Hauptstadt Mogadischu gestürmt und 15 Menschen getötet. Truppen der Afrikanischen Union schlugen die Islamisten zurück.
Mogadischu - In der somalischen Hauptstadt Mogadischu haben Islamisten das Gebäude der Vereinten Nationen angegriffen. Die Polizei berichtete, ein Attentäter habe sich am Eingang zum Uno-Entwicklungsprogramm (UNDP) in die Luft gesprengt. Anschließend hätten mehrere Männer in Militäruniformen das Gebäude gestürmt und um sich geschossen. Bei dem Angriff seien 15 Menschen getötet worden, darunter vier ausländische Mitarbeiter des UNDP und vier somalische Sicherheitskräfte, sagte Innenminister Abdikarim Husien Gulled. » | tob/dpa/Reuters/AP/AFP | Mittwoch, 19. Juni 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair has warned of "catastrophic consequences" if the West fails to arm Syrian rebels to defeat the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The consequences of refusing to intervene are likely to be more costly for the West than participating in the drive to oust the regime.
Speaking in Israel, the former prime minister acknowledged the "predominant emotion" in the West was to stay out of Syria, where rebels are battling to oust Bashar Assad and his regime, and avoid becoming embroiled in the politics of the region. "Undoubtedly the predominant emotion in the West today is to stay out of Syria; indeed to stay out of the region's politics," he said. "But as every day that passes shows, the cost of staying out may be paid in a higher price later."
The comments came a day after G8 leaders papered over differences between the West and Russia to agree that a political solution to the conflict must be an international priority. » | Damien McElroy and agencies | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
EXPRESS: Has he learnt nothing? Tony Blair argues Britain MUST intervene over Syrian crisis: TONY BLAIR has called for Britain to intervene over the growing Syrian crisis. » | Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
BBC: Barbra Streisand received an honorary doctorate of philosophy degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on Monday.
The performer was presented the award in recognition for her human rights work and dedication to Israel and the Jewish people.
She already holds an Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Humanities from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, and has also received many awards during her career.
Streisand is one of just a few stars to have won all four major US awards - an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and an honorary Tony. (+ video) » | Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Related »
Stakelbeck on Terror Blog »
DEUTSCHE WELLE: For the first time in Germany, a Muslim community has been granted 'corporation under public law' status. Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser, its chairman, tells DW that this includes rights as well as responsibilities.
The Culture Ministry in the state of Hesse has granted Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat (AMJ) in Frankfurt, a Muslim religious community, the status of 'corporation under public law' - a first in Germany.
Legally, the new status puts it on par with the major Christian churches and the Jewish community in Germany. Public corporation status gives the communities certain rights, including the right to pass laws for their organization and raise taxes from members.
Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser has served as AMJ chairman since 1984. Active in Germany since the 1950s, the AMJ, with its 39 mosques and more than 35,000 members in about 225 communities, is regarded as a moderate Muslim reformist movement. » | DW.DE | Interview: Klaus Krämer / db | Editor: Michael Lawton | Tuesday, June 18, 2013
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