German Politician Says Time to Check Mosques

He wants to root out Islamists with surveillance.

Guenther Beckstein, a conservative politician, who has hopes of becoming Germany's next interior minister thinks security officials need to be watching "every mosque" in order to root out all the militant Islamists.

Germany has an estimated 3 million Muslims.

"I say we must know what's happening in every mosque. There are considerable difficulties. Let me say clearly this is not a breach of religious freedom, it's a necessity that one knows what kind of Islam is being preached in a mosque."

"When I look at (Islamist group) Tablighi Jama'at, where it was said in mosques under our surveillance that every devout person must strive to enter paradise and the most devout action is to spill one's own blood on German soil, then that can only be seen as propaganda for suicide attacks. When you have that kind of information, the security agencies need to be there."

Beckstein did go on to say that most Muslims in Germany were "decent, tolerant and hard-working."