German minister vows to fight right-wing crime

BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged action today to combat what he described as an alarming rise in right-wing violence but said he opposed trying to ban the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD).

While Islamist militancy continued to pose the greatest threat, acts of violence committed by far-right militants rose by 9.3 per cent in 2006 from the previous year, Schaeuble said, referring to figures published today.

In addition, the NPD -- which some compare with Adolf Hitler's Nazis -- recruited an extra 1,000 members in 2006, bringing the total to 7,000 members.

''We must make every possible effort to ... prevent young people being caught up by right-wing extremists,'' Schaeuble told a news conference.

Amid worries about the rise in far-right crime some 60 years after the fall of the Nazis, Germany is spending 19 million euros per year on campaigns to get young people involved in democracy and steer them away from radical ideology.

Far-right parties are represented in four state parliaments in Germany, three in the former communist east.

Schaeuble called on society and politicians to try to halt the NPD's electoral success.

''I, for my part, will participate in this struggle with all my power and passion'', he said. However, he gave no details of other planned measures and said banning the NPD was unrealistic after an attempt to do so failed in 2003.

That case fell flat because some of the testimony came from government informants within the party and Schaeuble said the same obstacles remained.

Despite the rise in right-wing violence, Islamic militancy was still the biggest threat to German security, said Schaeuble.

''Germany is not just a refuge for Islamic terrorists, but also one of their operating bases'', he said.

Germany was shocked when it emerged that three of the four suspected suicide pilots in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were found to have lived in Hamburg.

Two Lebanese men are suspected of attempting to detonate crude bombs hidden in suitcases on German trains last year and in April, the United States issued a warning of an increased threat of attacks on US targets in Germany.

Schaeuble said the level of danger remained high, citing video messages released on the Internet, including one in March in which Islamists warned of attacks if Germany did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

Schaeuble has in the last few months launched a debate on tighter anti-terrorism measures in Germany, where there is fierce opposition to curtailing civil liberties.

REUTERS TB RK2028