 DUSSELDORF - The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said on Friday it has decided to expel a Jordanian national who formerly headed the now-banned Al-Aksa group. Without identifying the man by name, as is customary in German legal practice, the state's interior ministry said the man had been given six weeks to leave the country. After that he could be forcibly expelled. Interior minister Fritz Behrens said the suspect, by collecting donations in Germany in order to support the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, had violated the country's spirit of seeking understanding among peoples. "We will continue to operate firmly against worldwide Islamic terrorism," Behrens said. The Al-Aksa group based in Aachen was banned by the German federal interior ministry in 2003 for its activities to collect donations in support of the Hamas organisation. |