Germany arrests two for suspected racist attack

BERLIN, Apr 21 (Reuters) German federal state prosecutors today ordered the arrest of two men on ''strong suspicion'' of racially motivated attempted murder following a brutal attack on a German man of African origin last weekend.

In an incident which has sparked outrage in Germany, a 37-year-old German man of Ethiopian origin, named as Ermyas M., was attacked by two suspected right-wing extremists on Sunday morning in the eastern city of Potsdam, near Berlin.

The victim, a father of two, is in critical condition.

Police had already detained the two German suspects, named by prosecutors as 29-year-old Bjoern L and 30-year-old Thomas M, for questioning yesterday. The pair, who are both from the Potsdam area, have denied carrying out the attack.

''At the request of the federal state prosecutor, the investigating judge has issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of attempted murder for the two men detained on April 20,'' federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Arrest warrants are formally issued in Germany on the basis of strong suspicion of guilt and when there is a high risk suspects will attempt to flee. Without it, authorities would have had to release the men following their detention.

Prosecutors said suspicions centred on a mobile phone message recorded at the start of the attack in which one of the men was heard saying: ''Shall we blow you away?'' ''Based on the circumstances, particularly the recorded message, current findings suggest that racist motives prompted the two to perpetrate the deed,'' prosecutors said.

The incident, which prompted protest marches in Potsdam, has shocked a country already engaged in soul-searching about the integration of foreigners after violence at a school in a Muslim-dominated district of Berlin hit the headlines.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed outrage over the assault, and politicians in the ruling coalition have pledged to hold a summit on the issue of integration before the summer break.

Since German re-unification in 1990, about 100 people have been killed in outbreaks of far-right violence in the country, which has often been directed at dark-skinned foreigners living in the formerly communist eastern states.

Reuters PG VP0135