German officials on Friday raided followers of Metin Kaplan, a Cologne-based Islamic cleric who calls himself the "caliph" and is trying to avoid a treason trial in Turkey.
Searches were carried out at 32 homes, businesses and Moslem prayer rooms in southern Germany, authorities said.
Prosecutor Martin Hofmann said in Augsburg that 290 police had conducted identity checks on 79 persons, all holders of Turkish passports, and prosecutors had opened inquiries against 24 of them on suspicion of running or being members of a banned extremist group.
None were detained, but doc-uments were seized. Germany regards the Caliphate movement as akin to terrorism, because it practices political violence and rejects democratic values. Hofmann said there was no evidence the group was concretely planning bombings.
The raids came as a two-month delay in Kaplan's extradition neared expiry.
Kaplan, 51, a breakaway Turkish imam who, like his father before him, claims the title of "caliph" of the Islamic world, is wanted for treason and murder.
The courts have blocked his extradition out of concern that he may not get a fair trial. But the German media and law-and-order groups suggest he is making fools of the authorities.
Currently Kaplan is required to report daily to police and has a temporary permit to remain in Germany. German laws do not allow his detention in connection with the Turkish charge.
Officials contend federal judges can give a final ruling on the legality of Kaplan's removal after he is back in Turkey.
Kaplan has served a four-year jail term in Germany for inciting the murder of a rival claiming the caliphate. Caliphs in the past were spiritual and temporal rulers of Turkey.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese