Skirmishes as 750 neo-Nazis demonstrate in Berlin

BERLIN - Around 750 neo-Nazis took part in a rally in central Berlin Saturday, leading to minor skirmishes and 17 arrests, police reported.

The demonstrators gathered at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, dressed in black and bearing flags and banners inscribed with right-wing paroles.

The rally, accompanied by anti-riot police, drew a large number of opponents who booed and whistled at the neo-Nazi crowd.

“We took part in the demonstrations against the East German regime in 1989, but this is not what we wanted,” one woman told DPA, after spitting at a right-wing demonstrator.

After a series of minor skirmishes involving police, neo-Nazis and left-wing activists, officers arrested 15 left-wing agitators and two right-wing demonstrators. A total of 1,000 police officers were on duty during the rally.

The demonstration was prompted by an arson attack on a pub frequented by right-wing extremists last Saturday. The incident was initially thought to be racially motivated, but has since been classed as a personally motivated revenge.

Law enforcers arrested seven men Saturday in connection with the attack. The men had been injured during a punch-up in the pub in September.