Members of an extremist group banned in Germany for inspiring more than 140 Isis fighters with its “violent” ideology remains active in the UK and are seeking to recruit followers in Britain’s largest cities, The Independent can reveal.
Police have launched almost 200 raids across Germany at mosques, offices and homes linked to Die Wahre Religion (DWR) movement, meaning “The True Religion”- but British security forces are powerless to stop the same group’s activities.
Announcing the prohibition on Tuesday, the German interior minister said members were spreading “hate and anti-constitutional messages, seeing young people radicalised with conspiracy theories” under the cover of a Quran distribution campaign.
“After taking part in DWR activities, more than 140 young individuals so far have travelled to Syria or Iraq to join in the fighting by terrorist groups,” Dr Thomas de Maizière said.
“Germany is prepared to defend its democracy. Freedom of religion does not allow systematic interference with our fundamental values.”
The interior ministry said the group was stirring up “militant and aggressive attitudes” among its predominantly young audience, including calls to wage jihad and reject democracy in favour of the DWR’s Salafist interpretation of Islam.
It banned the DWR and all its activities, including the prominent “Lies!” or “Read!” Quran distribution campaign, which has spread to countries including France, Spain and Brazil to see members hand out hardline translations of the text in busy shopping areas.
But the prohibition extends only to Germany, meaning the DWR’s British affiliate can continue its campaigns untroubled, unless the UK adds it to its list of proscribed terrorist organisations.
Members were running a stall in London’s busy Oxford Street as recently as Sunday and have posted footage of events in towns and cities including Leicester, Nottingham and Blackburn.
A familiar face at the stalls has been the founder of DWR, Ibrahim Abou-Nagie, who attended the Read! campaign’s launch in Manchester in September 2014 and has made several appearances across the UK since.
The Cologne-based cleric has been labelled a hate preacher in Germany, being previously investigated on allegations of disturbing the peace, encouraging criminal acts and incitement to murder.
Mr Abou-Nagie has called for gay people to be executed to “protect Muslims”, as well as saying “disbelievers” will burn in hell, according to Die Tageszeitung.
The 52-year-old is currently believed to be in Malaysia preparing for the launch of Lies! latest branch in the country.
“We are no terrorists,” he said in a video message posted last month, accusing German politicians seeking to shut his movement down of attempting to “eliminate” religious freedom.
Mr Abou-Nagie could not immediately be reached for comment, while John Fontain, a British Muslim convert who appeared with him at the launch of DWR’s British affiliate denied knowledge of Germany’s ban when contacted by The Independent.
“We plan to take this to different cities in the UK,” Mr Fontain said in a video from the 2014 UK launch in Manchester.
“All the main [British] cities and inshallah [God willing], we want to go to Canada, America and Australia as well, inshallah. Please make dua [prayers] for us.”
The Home Office declined to comment on whether it was considering proscribing the group under the Terrorism Act 2000, which is used to ban groups that commits, prepares for, promotes, encourages or glorifes acts of terrorism.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told The Independent that unless the step was taken, police were powerless to arrest DWR supporters or stop their events in London.
“It’s not a proscribed organisation, so if an individual did commit an offence it would be as an individual,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s not an offence to be a member of the group at the moment in this country.”
Around 800 jihadis are known to have travelled from the UK to join Isis and Syria and Iraq, with around half having returned, fuelling concerns over a possible rise in domestic terror plots.
The German interior ministry said leaders, activists and supporters of the group “advocate and praise armed conflict and terrorist attacks”.
“Not only does DWR spread messages to this effect - the organisation had close ties to members of now-banned Islamist organisations especially in its early phase, and DWR members have posed with symbols of the so-called Islamic State,” a spokesperson said,
“The ban is not against promotion of Islam or the distribution of the Quran or translations…what is being banned is the misuse of a religion by those who propagate extremist ideologies and support terrorist organisations while claiming to promote Islam.”
Officials said freedom of religion could not be used as a defence while the group “aggressively disseminates its anti-constitutional, violence-oriented ideology”, adding that the organisation was “bringing jihadi Islamists together under the pretext of promoting Islam”.
Following a German newspaper report on links between the Lies! project and Isis fighters, the UK group accused the media of “trying to destroy” Islam.
The Read Quran Project UK Facebook page described itself as “a non-profitable organisation) presenting The Truth, The Quran (a beautiful translation in their own language) to non-Muslims”.
Following raids of 190 mosques, offices and homes linked to DWR in in 10 cities and states including Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Bavaria and North Rhein-Westphalia in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the page was removed.
DWR has been declared “unconstitutional” under the same law that bans neo-Nazi organisations in Germany, forbidding its existence, symbols, campaigns and online videos and materials.
It started in 2005 and claims to spread Islam in Germany “in a modern form and with the help of new media” and has denied connections to Isis.
A statement issued on Tuesday denied responsibility for radicalising young people in Germany, accusing the media and politicians of fuelling far-right attacks with depictions of “evil Muslims and refugees”.
DWR called the prohibition “insanity” and called for support from Muslims around the world.
Tuesday’s raids came a week after another terror network radicalising young Muslims and sending them to fight for Isis in Syria was dismantled by authorities.
Police arrested a hate preacher known as “Abu Walaa” and four accomplices linked to a group based in Hildesheim.
Germany has been on high alert since it was hit by two terror attacks carried out by Isis supporters in July.
Jaber al-Bakr, a suspected Isis supporter detained on suspicion of plotting to attack a Berlin airport with homemade explosives, killed himself in prison days after being arrested last month.
According to figures released in May by intelligence services, 820 jihadis have left Germany for Syria and Iraq, with a third known to have returned, 140 killed and 420 remaining abroad
