A federal court has endorsed the planned deportation from Germany of two known Islamic extremists who are foreign nationals, although they were born in the country and there is no proof they committed a serious offense, bolstering government plans to expel more foreign nationals deemed dangerous.
The two men, an Algerian and a Nigerian whose names were not released, were detained in February in Goettingen during an investigation of suspected attack plans.
When they were picked up, investigators found two weapons, at least one of them a firearm that required no permit but had been altered to fire live ammunition. Also found were ammunition, flags of the Islamic State group and a machete.
Lower Saxony's state government late last month ordered their deportation. It said late Tuesday the men will be deported before Easter after the Federal Administrative Court threw out a case against the decision. Authorities also plan to ban them for life from returning to Germany.
"This is a clear signal to all fanatics that we won't leave them one centimeter for their inhuman plans," said state Interior Minister Boris Pistorius.
Prosecutors concluded that the two had discussed an attack plan but had no concrete plans to carry one out. Nevertheless, the government decided to deport them, relying for the first time on measures that were part of tightened anti-terrorism laws passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the dpa news agency reported.
"You can count on us using all means at our disposal with full force," Pistorius said. "It's completely irrelevant whether they grew up here or not."
Germany was shaken last year by three attacks claimed by IS, including the December 19 attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in which 12 people were killed.
Following the first two attacks, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere drew up proposals to boost security, including a new focus on deporting foreigners deemed dangerous and stripping dual nationals who fight for extremist groups of their German citizenship.
After the Christmas market attack, which was carried out by a rejected asylum-seeker, the government proposed further measures to toughen the rules on deporting such individuals and on monitoring extremists.
