9/18/2004 7:30:00 AM GMT
Germany will deny visas to members of an Islamic conference, set to be held in Berlin next month, security officials claim that the conference is aimed at justifying terrorism.
The conference calls for "the liberation of all the occupied territories and countries in struggle against the American-Zionist hegemony and occupation," as mentioned on its website.
Between 500 and 800 participants are expected to attend this meeting, however organizers refused to reveal who will give out speech in the conference and where in Berlin the gathering will be held.
"Fundamentalists and hate preachers have no place in Germany," Foreign Ministry spokesman Walter Lindner said, referring to the participants of the conference.
Germany's top security official, Interior Minister Otto Schily, accused the conference of justifying terrorism, saying " it seems to fall under the heading of justifying terrorist acts."
His department has pointed out that Germany's internal security agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, was watching efforts to hold the conference.
"I have said that, if a conference is to be held on the basis of the program published in the Internet, my belief is that it cannot go ahead," he told reporters.
"We are examining all legal avenues to prevent it."
However, organizers asserted that the conference is legal.
A Berlin-based spokesman, Gabriel Daher, said that the conference is only meant to "send a message of solidarity to people under occupation in Palestine and Iraq" and address the problem of "discrimination of Muslims and Arabs in Europe."