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‘Time Of Looking The Other Way IS OVER’: German Official Comes Unglued On Radical Mosques

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Russ Read Pentagon/Foreign Policy Reporter
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German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel pulled no punches Sunday denouncing Saudi Arabian funding of radical mosques abroad.

“From Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi mosques are financed throughout the world,” reports the Express Tribune.

“At the same time we must make it clear to the Saudis that the time of looking the other way is over,” said Gabriel, who was also quick to note “This radical fundamentalism taking place in Salafist mosques is no less dangerous than right-wing extremism.”

Germany’s second in command also announced that “We will prevent Saudi help in the building or financing of mosques in Germany where Wahhabi ideas are to be disseminated.”

The bold words follow last week’s vote in German parliament to send a non-combat support force to help counter Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. (RELATED: Germany Makes Noncommittal Commitment In War On ISIS)

His comments follow an alleged claim from an unnamed source speaking to Al-Riyadh newspaper that the Saudi Arabian justice ministry will consider suing anyone who compares Saudi Arabia to ISIS. #SueMeSaudi began to trend on Twitter almost immediately following the news.

Saudi Arabian connections to radical Islam have been a subject of contention since the attacks on 9/11 when it was discovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. It is claimed that the Saudi Arabian government spent over $100 billion promoting Wahhabi Islam across the Middle East region. Wahhabi Islam is a fundamentalist Sunni school that forged an alliance with the ruling House of Saud over three hundred years ago. The alliance was solidified in the early twentieth century when the modern state of Saudi Arabia was created, with the Wahhabis given de facto control of religion in the kingdom that continues today. (RELATED: Ultra Conservative Muslim Shias Descend On DC To Protest ISIS)

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