German govt condemns far-right riots

CHEMNITZ, Germany - Far-right demonstrators clashed with leftist protesters in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Monday after an Iraqi and a Syrian were arrested over a fatal stabbing that triggered violent demonstrations.

Police said they brought in water cannons after fireworks were thrown from both sides, causing injuries.

State and local officials appealed for calm as thousands of people took to the streets and Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany would not tolerate "vigilante justice".

"What was seen in places in Chemnitz yesterday and what was also recorded in videos, has no place in our constitutional state," Steffen Seibert told a news conference on Monday.

"Such rioting, hounding of people who look different or have different origins, nor the attempt to spread hatred on the streets, we do not accept. This has no place with us in our cities. I can say for the federal government that we condemn this in the strongest terms."

The unrest reflected a growing schism in German society after Merkel's government allowed about 1 million asylum-seekers to enter the country in 2015, triggering a political shift to the right.

Over a thousand leftist protesters massed near a giant statue of Karl Marx in Chemnitz on Monday evening to protest attacks on foreigners that occurred during an impromptu demonstration on Sunday after reports spread on social media about the stabbing of a 35-year-old German man.

"The scenes of people going after those who look like foreigners scare us. We want to show that Chemnitz has another side that is cosmopolitan and opposes xenophobia," Tim Detzner, the head of the radical Left party in Chemnitz, told the rally.

Nearly the same number of demonstrators waving German and Bavarian flags gathered nearby, some breaking through police barriers aimed at keeping the two sides apart. Many chanted "We are the people", a slogan used by far-right supporters.

Tensions were running high after some 800 demonstrators - including about 50 that police described as ready to commit violence - had taken to the streets on Sunday after the stabbing, which police said occurred after a row.

Local prosecutors said they had arrested two suspects, a 22-year-old Syrian man and a 21-year-old Iraqi man.

Television news channels broadcast amateur footage of skinheads chasing a man through the streets at Sunday's protest. Police said they were still investigating reports of injury filed by Syrian, Afghan and Bulgarian people, and at least four demonstrators had been charged.

Roland Woeller, interior minister of the state of Saxony, which includes Chemnitz, said authorities would not allow "anarchists" to run rampant. He warned against "misinformation and lies" circulating in social media.

The arrival of huge numbers of migrants from the Middle East three years ago has fueled support for farright groups such as PEGIDA and the Alternative for Germany, now the main opposition party in parliament.

Reuters - Xinhua