Former head of Hamburg Islamic center linked to Hezbollah leaves Germany after deportation order

The former head of an Islamic centre in Germany banned for its alleged links to extremist and terror groups has left the country after being served with a deportation order, local authorities say.

Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, who was the head of the Hamburg Islamic Centre before it was banned in July, left Germany on Tuesday evening, the Hamburg interior ministry says in a statement.

Mofatteh, 57, had been ordered two weeks ago to leave Germany or face being deported at his own expense.

He will not be allowed to re-enter Germany for 20 years and could face up to three years in prison if he does, the ministry says.

Andy Grote, interior minister for the state of Hamburg, describes Mofatteh as “one of Germany’s most prominent Islamists.”

“We will continue to take a tough line against Islamists with all legal means at our disposal,” he says in a statement.

Investigators swooped on the Hamburg Islamic Centre in July after concluding it was an “Islamist extremist organization” with links to Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

Iran reacted angrily to the accusations and shut down a German language institute in Tehran in what appeared to be a tit-for-tat move.