Taliban appearance in Cologne: “Completely unacceptable” – Faeser expects clarification – WELT

Stand: 18.11.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes

BInterior Minister Nancy Faeser strongly criticized the appearance of a high-ranking Taliban official in a Cologne mosque and called for clarification. “The appearance of the Taliban representative in Cologne is completely unacceptable and should be strongly condemned,” said the SPD politician on Saturday in Berlin. “Nobody is allowed to offer radical Islamists a platform in Germany.”

The Taliban are responsible for massive human rights violations, Faeser continued. “In Germany, we protect many refugees from Afghanistan from the oppressive rule of the Taliban. That’s why Taliban officials have absolutely no place in Germany.” The responsible authorities investigated the case intensively. The umbrella organization Ditib, to which the Cologne mosque belongs, is expected to “provide a complete and very quick explanation of how the appearance in Cologne came about.”

The umbrella organization Ditib, to which the mosque belongs, distanced itself from the appearance in the prayer house in the Chorweiler district on Thursday. A cultural association organized the event, which was announced as religious, and did not adhere to a contractual agreement. The club was banned from entering the building.

Ditib later corrected his original information about the organizer. “Unfortunately, we made a very unfortunate mistake in the name of the association, so we incorrectly listed the “Afghan Cultural Association Meschenich eV” as the organizer and user of the hall,” the umbrella organization announced on Saturday evening. In fact, the hall was made available to people who were known to Ditib as the board of directors of the “Kunar Youth Cultural Association” and were acting on its behalf.

The “Afghan Cultural Association Cologne Meschenich” had previously stated that it was not involved in the event and that the club’s name had been misused.

The umbrella organization Ditib also said that it sincerely regrets the “significant damage” caused to the originally named club and once again distances itself from the event. “The Taliban’s inhumane, misogynistic and anti-freedom mental attitude cannot be legitimized in any way by our faith and as Muslims we resolutely oppose this interpretation.”

The “Afghan Cultural Association Cologne Meschenich” itself stated that it was not involved in the event and that the club’s name had been misused. Among other things, charges were filed for defamation of reputation.

Abdul Bari Omar apparently head of the authority

According to a spokesman, the Federal Ministry of the Interior had no prior knowledge of the appearance. He said they had taken note of Ditib’s public statements on this matter and would press for further clarification. “Everything else related to the performance is the subject of ongoing examinations.”

It is still unclear how the man was able to enter Germany. The Foreign Office (AA) strongly condemned Abdul Bari Omar’s appearance on Friday. The trip was not announced to the AA and the man was not issued a visa before entering Germany. When asked on Saturday, the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Ministry said the man was the head of the food and medicine authorities in Afghanistan.

The North Rhine-Westphalia State Chancellery also condemned the Taliban official’s appearance. “The fact that members of a radical organization like the Taliban spread their ideologies unfiltered on German soil is an unspeakable event,” a spokesman told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. However, the Düsseldorf Interior Ministry referred on Saturday to an assessment by the Federal Prosecutor General: According to this, with their seizure of power in Afghanistan and the formation of a government in September 2021, the Taliban will no longer be a criminal or terrorist organization “from this point on.”