FaithWorld

(Police cars are seen parked in front of a house during a nationwide raid against ultra-conservative Salafist Islamist extremists in Frankfurt June 14, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Domanski )

About 1,000 police raided scores of buildings across Germany on Thursday in a clampdown on radical Salafist Islamists suspected of plotting against the state.

German officials fear the Salafists, who trace their roots to Saudi Arabia and want to establish Sharia (Islamic) law in Europe, are fuelling militancy among a small minority of socially alienated young Muslims in Germany.

Announcing the crackdown, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said he had banned one of the Salafists’ groups called the Millatu Ibrahim and said the raids may unearth evidence that would allow the outlawing of two other associations.

“(The Millatu Ibrahim group) works against our constitutional order and against understanding between peoples,” Friedrich told reporters.

German authorities have recently stepped up their monitoring of ultra-conservative Salafist groups following a series of violent clashes with police.

Read the full story by Sabine Siebold here.
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