Germany bans Islamic group Ansaar, suspected of financing terrorism

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer gestures as he gives a news conference to comment on politically motivated crimes in Germany, in Berlin, May 4, 2021. Photo by ANNEGRET HILSE / POOL / AFP

BERLIN — Germany is banning Islamic organization Ansaar International, which it says has financed terrorism around the world, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

“If you want to fight terror you have to dry up its sources of funding,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Twitter.

Ansaar and an affiliated organisation “spread a Salafist world view and finance terror around the world under the guise of humanitarian aid”, the minister said.

According to German daily Bild, police searched buildings in 10 German states as part of the move to ban the organization.

Police had in 2019 raided offices belonging Ansaar as well as WorldWide Resistance-Help, on suspicion of financing the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is on a European Union terrorism blacklist.

Ansaar says on its website it provides humanitarian aid to people affected by war and crises by, for instance, building or financing the construction of hospitals, orphanages and schools.