BERLIN, July 26: Authorities in the German state of Bavaria said on Tuesday they had deported a Muslim cleric to Egypt who they accused of being a “dangerous hate preacher” who urged followers to mount a holy war against “unbelievers”. The cleric, named only as Mohamed E., was a former prayer leader at an Islamic centre in Nuremberg and had been in detention awaiting deportation since July 15, Guenther Beckstein, the state interior minister, said in a statement.

“E., in his role as imam at the Nuremberg Islamic Centre, which is part of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, had spread the ideology of this organisation and, among other things, urged a jihad against ‘unbelievers’,” Beckstein said. German security services have tightened surveillance of Muslim radicals since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States in which three of the suicide pilots were students who had been living in Hamburg.

A new immigration law took effect on Jan. 1, making it easier and quicker to deport suspected foreign militants. Bavaria has been among the most aggressive states in applying it, with 14 alleged “extremists and hate preachers” removed since November 2004.

“The termination of the residence permit of this dangerous preacher of hate is a further success of the Bavarian policy of clamping down on menaces and hate preachers,” Beckstein said. As part of the state’s tough stance, a further 20 people have received notifications of deportation.—Reuters