German arsonists attack refugee shelter

Berlin (AP) - Arsonists threw firebombs at a refugee shelter in the Baltic coast city of Greifswald during the night, causing no injuries, police said. Thousands of Germans joined demonstrations against neo-Nazi violence over the weekend, and the leader of Germany's Jewish community said in a radio interview that the main political parties had mistakenly helped the extreme rightists justify attacks against foreigners. Ignatz Bubis, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said that politicians made a mistake when the violence started last year by linking it to the rapidly increasing number of refugees seeking asylum in Germany. Right-wingers are blamed for more than 2,000 attacks this year that have killed 17 people, injured hundreds and damaged refugee shelters and Holocaust monuments.

Police in Greifswald, which has had repeated incidents of violence, said about 25 Africans and Romanians were in the refugee shelter when someone threw two firebombs on to a balcony during the night. Minor damage was reported, though no one was hurt.