Turkish-born German man attacked in Bavaria
Regional-Germany, Culture, 5/24/2006

Two racist German teenagers attacked a 45-year-old German man of Turkish origin in the south German town of Cham as Germany is grappling with the latest wave of brutal far-right assaults only 16 days before the start of the 2006 World Cup, DPA cited local police as saying today.

The victim who was initially insulted by his assailants -- aged 15 and 16 -- at Cham's train station, received several punches to his head.

Police said the victim was slightly injured in the attack. One of the assailants was already involved in a similar racial violent act six years ago when he badly hurt an asylum-seeker.

The latest attack in Cham came less than a week after a Turkish-born German leftist politician was hospitalized with a concussion and multiple bruises to his body following a vicious attack by Germans in Berlin's Lichtenberg district.

The recent racist assaults have sparked warnings by former German government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye who cautioned foreign World Cup football fans against visiting parts of east Germany, saying they are likely to risk their lives by racist attacks.

He pointed specifically to the east German state of Brandenburg which has repeatedly made international headlines as a result of brutal german assaults on foreigners.

"There are small and mid-sized cities in Brandenburg and elsewhere, where I would not advise anyone with a different skin color to go. He wouldn't probably be able to leave the area alive," said Heye who heads the anti-racist organization "Gesicht zeigen! Aktion weltoffenes Deutschland".

Meantime, The German Interior Ministry is to host an Islam conference in the central city of Bonn in September, aimed at improving the dialogue with the Muslim community, DPA cited an interior ministry spokeswoman as saying on Wednesday.

According to the German official, the Islam conference will also promote the inter-religious dialogue.

Muslims number 3.5 million out of Germany's population of 82 million.

Previous Stories:
  German discrimination against Muslims   (5/6/2006)
  Germany issues passports to Israeli spies to enter Middle East   (1/17/2006)

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