Germany Bans Two Extremist Groups

On Monday Germany's interior minister, Otto Schily, imposed a ban on two groups the government considers extremist. One of the groups, the Essen-based Yatim Children's Aid, is a successor to the Al Aqsa Donation Association, which was banned in 2002. According to the ministry, the group collects donations in Germany and passes the money on to the Palestine-based radical Islamic organization Hamas. The second group affected is a publisher based in Neu Isenburg called E. Xani. Schily said the organization, which publishes the newspaper Özgür Politika, is connected with the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) and disseminates news and propaganda to PKK supporters. The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the US and the EU, has been staging a violent campaign against the Turkish government for an independent Kurdish state since 1978.