Violence Mars Germany's May Day in Berlin, Leipzig By Dave Graham and Volker Warkentin 52 minutes ago
BERLIN (Reuters) - German riot police battled masked left-wing anarchists in Berlin and Leipzig on Sunday as sporadic violence once again marred May Day celebrations. ADVERTISEMENT About 100 people in the two cities were arrested, but police in Berlin said the extent of the damage was less extensive than in previous years. Throwing stones, bottles and signal rockets at police, a group of anarchists overturned a car in Berlin's Kreuzberg district near the government quarter but were chased away by police before they could set it on fire. Kreuzberg -- a Bohemian district populated with a mixture of immigrants, students and squatters -- has been the scene of May Day violence for the past 18 years despite extensive prevention efforts by police. "We had predicted it would be quieter this year, but not completely without incident and that's what's happened," a police spokesman said. The most tense moment came shortly before sunset on Sunday when a group of about 1,500 anarchists, many of them masked and wearing dark hoods, tried to march toward the Berlin headquarters of the Axel Springer publishing company. "Everything for everyone and everything for free," they chanted. They were stopped by squads of riot police from getting closer than 150 yards to the building, where several conservative newspapers are published. About a dozen anarchists then tipped over a car and smashed its windows in front of photographers and journalists. "Everything has been peaceful up until now," another police official said. "We had a few youths who got a bit over-excited and had too much to drink, but it's calmed down again now." After sunset, anarchists made another shortlived attack on police, hurling bottles and stones at police near a street festival. Ten were arrested in Berlin on Sunday evening after 65 were arrested late on Saturday and early Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, police in Leipzig turned water cannon on left-wing demonstrators who battled riot police. Thirty leftists were arrested for acts of violence to disrupt a court-approved march of 1,000 right-wing demonstrators. A police spokesman in Leipzig said that more than 1,200 left-wing protesters tried to block the march. Police said three Berlin officers were slightly injured, compared with more than 50 in the early hours of May 1, 2004 -- as several dozen people, some masked, pelted them with bottles and stones after a concert in the east of the city. Many local businesses and bank offices were better prepared this year, boarding up windows and doors. In recent years, police have caught many May Day assailants days or weeks after the riots with the help of photographs. (Additional reporting by Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin) http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl =story&u=/nm/20050501/wl_nm/germany_mayday_arrests_dc Reuters - German riot police battled masked left-wing anarchists in Berlin and Leipzig on Sunday as sporadic violence once again marred May Day celebrations. Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
