GERMAN MINISTER: PARIS TERROR ATTACK TARGETS ISLAM

Berlin, 20 Rabiul Awwal 1436/11 January 2015 (MINA) – A German minister has defended Muslims against allegations linking them to a fatal shooting assault on the office of the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in Paris.

On Thursday, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas told a news conference in Berlin that mainstream media in the country should not tie the acts of violence similar to the attack in Paris to Muslims, adding that the “extremists” behind such terror assaults “have nothing to do with Islam.”

“This was an attack against Islam. The vast majority of Muslims in Germany consider it a betrayal of their beliefs and they are saying so loudly and publicly,” said the senior German official, adding, “Extremists exist in every society,” Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He criticized some German groups for attempting to use the Paris shooting for their own purposes, warning against blaming the religion of Islam for the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack.

The comments came a day after gunmen attacked the Paris office of the French magazine, killing nearly a dozen people and wounding about eight others.

The attack took place at a time of heightened fears in France and other European capitals over the fallout from the ongoing ISIL militancy in Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of European citizens have joined the ranks of the Takfiri militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Some reports say the ISIL Takfiri group, which has been waging wars in Syria and Iraq, had earlier threatened to attack France.

Just minutes before the Wednesday attack, the magazine had tweeted a satirical cartoon of the ISIL leader, Ibrahim al-Samarrai, also known as Abubakr al-Baghdadi. (T/P011/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)