Acting justice minister Stef Blok has banned a controversial imam from parts of The Hague for six months after he was caught preaching in property registered as a bookshop.

The Syrian preacher Fawaz Jneid, who has lived in the Netherlands since 1992 and has Dutch nationality, has been banned from the Schilderswijk and Transvaal parts of the city, following close consultation with mayor Pauline Krikke, news agency ANP said.

A spokesman for the justice ministry told ANP the imam’s message is one of intolerance and that he contributed to radicalisation. He was earlier sacked by a salafist mosque organisation in The Hague after carrying out illegal marriage ceremonies and following a long conflict with the mosque management.

Krikke told ANP that the imam’s presence and extremist beliefs ran counter to her aim of making The Hague ‘as free and as safe as possible’.

‘That is why we, the police, the public prosecutor and the counter-terrorism agency NCTV are doing all we can to prevent him from establishing a foothold in our city,’ she said.

The minister has been able to issue banning orders to people said to contribute to radicalisation since March when new counter-terrorism laws were introduced.