German minister says post snooping not systematic

MUNICH, Germany, May 25 (Reuters) German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble today denied police had systematically intercepted private post as part of efforts to crack-down on anti-G8 campaigners ahead of next month's summit.

A newspaper reported that officers in Hamburg had snooped through mail prompted by concern violent militants could disrupt the meeting of world leaders in Heiligendamm on June 6-8.

''There have been no such measures as part of the preparation of the summit and there will not be any,'' Schaeuble told reporters on the fringes of a meeting of G8 interior ministers' conference in Munich today.

The tageszeitung daily said police in the northern German port city of Hamburg were systematically rifling through private correspondance as part of intelligence gathering.

Schaeuble said the interceptions were part of ongoing criminal investigations.

''The Federal Prosecutors are conducting an investigation into crimes that have been committed,'' he added.

Police in Hamburg declined to comment while the Federal Prosecutor's office was not immediately available for comment.

Schaeuble's remarks come after a string of fire-bomb attacks, including one in which a car belonging to the editor of Germany's mass-circulation Bild newspaper was torched.

Campaigners have accused German authorities of heavy-handed tactics after raids on militants ahead of the G8 summit. The raids in Berlin and Hamburg were followed by riots.

Germany was stunned earlier this week over news that police had been collecting scent traces from selected activists ahead of the expected protests against the summit.

The action harked back to methods used by the dreaded Stasi - the East German security police - who routinely kept scent samples from dissidents in order to track defectors.

Conservative Schaeuble, an outspoken supporter of tougher national security measures, has vowed to tighten border controls ahead of the summit.

REUTERS RN BST2300