Berlin, Germany - An important Muslim organization says it will not attend the German government's second Islamic summit next week, saying it does not tackle the religious community's problems and that too many local Muslim groups will not be represented.
The Central Council of Muslims-one of the country's biggest Muslim organizations-said Wednesday it feels problems like discrimination against Germany's roughly 4 million Muslims or fear of Islam were not being taken seriously by the Interior Ministry as it organizes the meeting.
A Turkish-born lawmaker for the governing Free Democrats, Serkan Toren, rejected the accusations as "absurd."
The first Islamic summit in 2006 discussed ways to better integrate Muslims and to fight both discrimination and Islamic extremism.