Cologne mosque: Germany blasts Taliban official’s appearance

BERLIN: 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 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.