Turkish Islamic fundamentalist Metin Kaplan, known as the "Caliph of Cologne," was sentenced in Germany Wednesday to four years in prison for calling for the death of a rival.
Kaplan, 48, who calls himself a caliph, or religious leader, was charged with issuing religious decrees, or fatwas, in 1996 calling for the murder of a rival, Halil Ibrahim Sofu.
But Kaplan said he had only been reading excerpts from the Koran.
Sofu, a Turkish doctor who also called himself a caliph, was murdered by three assailants in Berlin in 1997 but the prosecutor said this was not necessarily linked to Kaplan's call.
Kaplan had been charged by a federal court in September last year with belonging to a criminal organization, publicly inciting criminal acts and plotting.
Kaplan has since May 1995 been head of the Cologne-based fundamentalist organization Hilafet Devleti.
He is suspected of having in May 1998 called for a holy war, or jihad, to topple the regime in Ankara and replace it with a caliphate.
Kaplan was arrested March 25, 1999 on a federal warrant. His arrest led to violent demonstrations in Cologne.
Germany has said it would not extradite Kaplan to Turkey since there was no guarantee he would not be executed there. Germany opposes the death sentence -- DUESSELDORF, Germany (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
