Leftists thwart neo-Nazi parade in Berlin (Roundup)

May 1, 2010, 19:58 GMT

Berlin - Thousands of leftists thwarted a neo-Nazi parade through Berlin Saturday, with German riot police giving up attempts to clear the parade route after hours of manhandling away people obstructing the road.

Later in the day, some 10,000 militant leftists and anarchists paraded through the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. Violence broke out as night fell, with anarchists throwing stones, bottles and fireworks at riot police.

Around 600 members of far-right groups, who had obtained permission under German free-speech laws to march along a 6-kilometre route, had earlier been turned back by the police after marching less than 1 kilometre.

The rightists, mostly youths with shaven heads, vainly tried to march through the liberal, middle-class Prenzlauer Berg area of the German capital. They retraced their steps, were escorted by helmeted riot police to Berlin train stations and dispersed.

There was only limited violence.

At least 300 more far-rightists, including neo-Nazis from Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic, were foiled when they tried to hold an unauthorized rally in a different part of Berlin. Police temporarily detained 200 of them to prevent that event.

Leftists, who claimed they had marshalled 10,000 counter- demonstrators, claimed success with their customary tactics of physically blocking the rightists' path.

Wolfgang Thierse, 66, a Social Democrat who is deputy speaker of the German parliament, was one of those removed from the parade route. A policeman tugged his elbow to make him walk off the roadway.

Attempting to define itself as a voice of labour, the German far right regularly tries to parade on May Day, the international workers' festival.

Violence, with brawls between the leftists and rightists, or attacks by anarchists on banks and shops, has been an annual ritual for more than two decades in Berlin, Hamburg and other German cities.

Berlin police had water cannon and riot sticks at the ready as night fell Saturday. Riot police dressed robo-cop style tried to nip violence in the bud by instantly arresting anyone seen throwing missiles.

Police clashed with 150 anarchist demonstrators in the port city of Hamburg in the early hours of Saturday, detaining seven.

The Hamburg violence left 13 police injured and a passer-by was hit on the head by a flying stone, police said.

Rightists paraded in other German cities, especially in the former communist east, despite being outnumbered by crowds of opponents.

Police mostly succeeded in keeping the groups apart, but stones were thrown by some of the 400 neo-Nazis parading in the eastern factory city of Zwickau. Police said one person was hurt.

In the western city of Dortmund, the city council suspended a top fire-services official after he was observed marching with a far- right group, the Autonomy Nationalists, on Friday.

Klaus Schaefer, head of the Dortmund school of firefighting technology, is to face a civic disciplinary inquiry.