"There are other possibilities to prevent the meeting taking place," Schily said

BERLIN, September 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Germany said on Friday, September 17, that it would refuse visas to anyone seeking to take part in an Arab and Islamic conference next month in Berlin.

German authorities abroad had been instructed "to not issue visas to anyone stating that attending this conference was the purpose of their visit," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted foreign ministry spokesman Walter Lindner as saying.

"Fundamentalists and preachers of hate have no place in Germany," the spokesman said.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily said Friday he was examining every possibility to prevent the conference taking place, although he added there had been no formal application to hold the event.

"There are other possibilities to prevent the meeting taking place," Schily said after a meeting with US Secretary for Homeland Security Tom Ridge.

‘Humanity on Hold’

On their website, the organizers of the "first Arab Islamic Congress in Europe " say the event will take place October 1-3 in the German capital although no exact location is given.

Under the headline "Humanity on hold," the website said "say yes to the liberation of all the occupied territories and countries in struggle against the American-Zionist hegemony and occupation" in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish organization known primarily for its work in tracking down Nazi war criminals, has condemned the Congress and says its real purpose is to recruit “suicide bombers” and raise funds.

A study conducted by the University of Bielefeld’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence had shown that Islamophobia was on the rise in Germany.

But former German president Johannes Rau has said that Muslims in Germany should not be treated as second-class citizens.

Last month, Germany’s mass-circulation Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Germans reverting to Islam have risen dramatically in the past few years and are keen on leaving their indelible marks on society.