U.S. hate preacher Terry Jones banned from Germany

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. hate preacher Terry Jones, one of the supporters of the anti-Islam video "Innocence of Muslims," is to be banned from travelling to Germany, according to Spiegel Online.

The website says that Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has asked the Interior Ministry to prevent Jones from entering the country.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that a visit by Jones would "run counter to the interest of maintaining public order."

The ban came in response to information that German far-right groups such as Pro Deutschland and Pro NRW plan to invite the preacher to Germany in the coming days.

Sources close to the German Foreign Ministry said Westerwelle believes "hate preachers have no business being in Germany."

Jones came to worldwide attention in 2010 when he threatened to burn a copy of the Koran. Fanatics in the Muslim world responded to this deliberate provocation by staging violent protests in which at least 20 people died.

The controversial video, believed to have been produced in the U.S. by a Coptic Christian convicted of bank fraud, has led to violent demonstrations in several Muslim countries in which people have been killed and injured.

In the Libyan city of Benghazi, the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other US citizens were killed last week. The German Embassy in Sudan was attacked and set on fire on Friday. There has also been unrest in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The head of Pro Deutschland, Manfred Rouhs, said he plans to show the film in Berlin. "For us, this is about freedom of art and opinion," he told Spiegel.