Germany's Muslim community on Friday condemned the failed plot to blow up passengers trains in the west of the country last month and offered to help authorities fight terrorism. Sixteen organizations, including the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, issued a joint statement saying they were "deeply shocked and horrified. Islam offers no justification for such acts," added the groups.| “Islam offers no justification for such acts.” |
They said Muslims could have been victims in more than one sense if the plot to blow up trains outside the cities of Hamm and Koblenz on July 31 had succeeded. Homemade bombs planted on the trains in trolley suitcases failed to explode, averting an almost certain bloodbath.
"If such an attack succeeds, we are potential victims of such attacks, along with all other citizens. But we will also be branded 'co-accused'," the groups said.
Their statement follows a call by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble earlier this week on Muslims to condemn the plot, which he has described as a terrorist attempt to kill countless people.
| “... a common condemnation of terror is an overdue first step, but it's not enough." |
But conservative politician Edmund Stoiber, head of the Bavarian-based Christian Social Union, said "a common condemnation of terror is an overdue first step, but it's not enough." He told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Muslims in German needed to become active in trying to prevent terrorist attacks.
He called on Muslim communities to reject extremists in their ranks and alert security officials to them. He added during Friday prayers imams should not denounce western values as morally inferior, thereby radicalizing young Muslims. |