Taliban leader did not say anything criminal
Cologne (NRW) - His visit to Germany and his speech at the Ditib mosque in Cologne-Chorweiler caused outrage last week. Now the authorities in NRW are analyzing the speech of Taliban leader Abdul Bari Omar (36) to determine what the Islamist said during his short stay.
For this reason, the NRW Ministry of the Interior has been watching videos recorded during his appearance in Cologne over the past few days. The aim was to determine whether the Islamist was inciting criminal acts that would justify police intervention.
"The video footage of the man's speech has been secured, translated and analyzed," said Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Thursday in the Interior Committee of the state parliament in Düsseldorf. "So far, there are no indications of criminal acts."
According to Reul, the Taliban official's speech included a plea for support and aid for Afghanistan. "Now tell me what is terrorist about it," said the NRW Interior Minister. He could do without the presence of a Taliban member, but it was also part of the truth that one had to abide by the law.
There is no intelligence or police information about the man - the head of the Afghan Food and Drug Authority - in NRW. According to Reul, nothing is known about the extremist orientation of the "Cultural Association of Kunar Youth", which organized the event.
It had already been clarified that the Islamist had entered the country legally with a Schengen visa from the Netherlands. The authorities in Germany also no longer consider the Taliban to be a foreign terrorist organization.
- Despite the controversy surrounding his visit, the Cologne regional news reported that the analysis of Taliban leader Abdul Bari Omar's speech at the Islamic mosque in Cologne-Chorweiler did not reveal any indications of criminal incitement.
- The Taliban leader's plea for support and aid for Afghanistan during his speech at the Ditib mosque in Cologne was not considered terrorist activity by NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul, who acknowledged the need to abide by the law even if it involved the presence of a Taliban member.
- Contrary to rumors, there is no intelligence or police information indicating an extremist orientation for the "Cultural Association of Kunar Youth," the organization responsible for organizing the event where the Taliban leader spoke in Cologne.
