Post date: Aug 18, 2012 6:13:19 PM
BERLIN, GERMANY (AUGUST 18, 2012) (REUTERS) - A far-right group staged anti-Muslim protests outside several mosques in the German capital of Berlin on Saturday (August 18), with leftists groups staging counter-rallies.
Far-right group 'Pro Deutschland' holds anti-Muslim protests in front of mosques in Berlin, faces counter protests.
Under the motto 'Hasta la vista Salafista' around 50 members of the group called Pro Deutschland (Pro Germany) gathered outside the mosques considered to be meeting points of the radical Salafist community, which is banned in Germany since June 2012.
"We are not trying to ridicule, we will bring forward arguments. But we are facing a situation, where we have to start the debate, which wouldn't have happened if we didn't come up with a series of demonstrations in west Germany in April and May. The political institutions only react when there is some attention," said head of Pro Deutschland Manfred Rouhs.
Police were on high alert as they feared clashes at the rallies. There are roughly 4000 Salafists in Germany, whose religious roots are in Saudi Arabia, only a tiny proportion of the total Muslim population of about four million.
"We think of what is happening here as a provocation and have the opinion that these kind of events should become less in the future, especially because it harms the social and religious peace in Germany. And we are aiming not to let ourselves be affected by it and just ignore these demonstration," said the General Secretary of the Islam Council in Germany, Burhan Kesici.
Germany banned the Millatu Ibrahim Salafist group in June in a crackdown on radical Islamists suspected of plotting against the state. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said they worked against the constitutional order.