Germany apologizes for Schily's anti-Islam slurs

Germany extended an official apology to Egypt for German Interior Minister, Otto Schily's provocations and insults against Islam and Muslims last week.

German Ambassador in Cairo Baron Paul Von Maltzahn conveyed this apology to Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Mahdi Fathallah according to instructions from the German Foreign Ministry.

Schily had asked, in a partisan caucus, Muslims residing in Germany so accept description of the Islamic religion as "heresy" under the pretext of tolerance and freedom of scientific research.

Schily's remarks drew massive outcries on the part of Islamic communities and official Arab and Islamic institutions in Germany.