Frankfurt - Authorities in Germany have ordered the expulsion of a visiting imam who argues that practicing homosexuals should be sentenced to death, officials said Thursday.
The move comes a day after Abu Ameena Bilal Philips delivered an open-air speech to around 2,000 Muslims in Frankfurt.
The convert to Islam, who is in his 60s, did not repeat his views on homosexuality during Wednesday's rally. Bystanders said the speeches at the rally for Islam were not inflammatory. About 500 opponents demonstrated against him as he spoke.
German officials said they had prepared an order, before he was due to speak, instructing Philips to leave the country by Saturday night and never return.
German immigration law allows for the expulsion of aliens who 'incite hatred against parts of the population' or advocate violence against them. In a video on YouTube, Philips has defended the death penalty for proven homosexual acts.
Philips is entitled to appeal the order, but only from abroad, police said, and must mail in proof that he has left. An arrest warrant is ready in case he does not leave before the expulsion deadline.
Philips was invited to address a demonstration in defence of 'Islam, the Misunderstood Religion' by Pierre Vogel, a German-born convert to Islam who authorities describe as Salafist.
Salafism is a fundamentalist form of Islam that advocates literal adherence to what believers say was the religion's original form, and is closely connected to Islamism, the belief that Islam must prevail over political life.
Philips, who was born in Jamaica and grew up Canada, has said he was a communist before he turned to Islam, at the age of 25.
Gay rights groups round the globe have repeatedly protested at his speeches.
Source: M&C News, April 21, 2011
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