German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel calls for ban on some mosques

Social Democrats leader says those who 'encourage violence' do not 'enjoy the protection of religious freedom'

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says he has a 'zero tolerance' attitude towards extremist mosques (Getty)

Germany’s vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, has called for Salafist mosques to be banned and their preachers “expelled” following the Berlin terror attack.

The leader of the Social Democrats said those who “encourage violence” do not “enjoy the protection of religious freedom”, stressing he had a “zero tolerance” attitude towards combating Islamism.

The country is on edge following a terror attack where Amis Amri ploughed a lorry in a Berlin Christmas market killing 12 people last month and a year of attempted “lone wolf” attacks.

Salafism, an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam.

Mr Gabriel told German weekly Der Spiegel that half the followers of Isis who travel to Syria are German, often with German parents.

He said: “Salafist mosques must be banned, communities dissolved, and the preachers should be expelled as soon as possible.

“If we are serious about the fight against Islamism and terrorism, then it must also be a cultural fight.”

The vice-chancellor, whose party is currently in a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said this meant they needed to strengthen societal ties and make sure “urban areas are not neglected, villages do not fall into disrepair and people do not become more and more radicalised”.

His intervention comes as his party prepares itself for a federal election later this year where anti-immigration parties such as Alternative for Germany (AfD) are expected to do well by exploiting fears over the influx of refugees.

Following the Berlin attack an AfD MEP, Marcus Pretzell, tweeted that the victims were “Merkel’s dead” as she had allowed more than a million refugees to come from Iraq and Syria.