Last Updated: Friday, 24 September, 2004, 15:42 GMT 16:42 UK


BBC NEWS


Berlin bans extreme right march


The NPD's Holger Apfel won a seat in Saxony
The Berlin authorities have banned a march through the German capital by the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), planned for Saturday.
"Anyone who uses incitement to separate people may not demonstrate in Berlin," said the city's interior minister Erhart Koerting.

The NPD picked up 9.2% of the vote in recent state elections in Saxony.

Its mottos for the Berlin march were to be "Berlin must stay German" and "Against Islamic centres in the city".

The NPD's success in Saxony meant it gained seats in a German state assembly for the first time since 1968.

The German government has described the NPD as a latter-day version of Hitler's Nazi Party and tried to ban it last year - a move rejected by the constitutional court.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder faces key local council elections in North-Rhine Westphalia on Sunday - Germany's most populous state.

"Berlin must stay German". A very controversial slogan indeed! We live in an age where insanity is the norm. What happens if the NPD marches anyway in spite of the ban? I guess that would be further grounds for banning the party. Well, at least they are allowed to elected to parliament. In the US you are free to march but election to office is impossible because of the screwy, undemocratic election process. I think I'll walk down the street to the cantina and contemplate all this at length.