(AFP) Germany on Monday condemned an appearance by a Taliban official at a mosque in Cologne, with the interior minister demanding explanations from the Turkish organisation running the Islamic site.
Abdul Bari Omar, who is an official with the Taliban-run health authority in Afghanistan, attended the mosque to speak at a conference organised by an Afghan association in the city.
“The appearance of a representative of the Taliban in Cologne is completely unacceptable and must be strongly condemned.
“No-one should offer radical Islamists a platform in Germany,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
She urged Ditib, the Turkish-Islamic association managing the mosque in the city’s Chorweiler district, to explain “how it could have been possible that the room was used” in this manner.
