Germany cracking down on Brotherhood-affiliated agencies

Nahla Abdelmonem

German authorities have decided to ban the Advocates for International Development Organization on charges of terrorism financing.

German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer accused this Islamic organization of using the funds it raises in financing al-Nusra Front and Tahrir al-Sham in Syria as well as Al-Shabaab movement in Somalia. Seehofer said the organization also sends money to other Islamist movements, including the Palestinian Hamas movement.

The German decision goes hand in hand with the articles of the German constitution, especially with German authorities accusing the organization of using humanitarian activities as a front for bankrolling terrorist groups.

In 2018, the organization sent 10 million Euros to these groups in financing. The organization also promotes the Salafist ideology which contradicts important Western ideals, such as freedom and democracy.

The German government also accuses Advocates for International Development of spoon-feeding children Salafist and radical ideas, which poses threats to the German society.

It says the organization has become a link between extremists and the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Curbing terrorism financing

The decision by German authorities to ban Advocates for International Development and other similar organizations comes as European states act to curb terrorism financing networks which exploit laws protecting personal freedoms in expanding.

A spokesman of the German Ministry of the Interior wrote on Twitter that Advocates for International Development uses the funs it raises for humanitarian purposes to finance terrorism around the world.

Drying up the sources of terrorism financing, he added, would be the first step on the road of eradicating this terrorism.