Germany arrests eighth suspect linked to group which attacked foreigners

Germany arrests eighth suspect linked to group which attacked foreigners
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By Reuters
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BERLIN (Reuters) - German police have arrested an eighth man suspected of membership of a far-right militant group which assaulted foreigners in the eastern city of Chemnitz and planned attacks on politicians, the Federal Prosecutor's Office (GBA) said on Tuesday.

The GBA said it believed the man was a member of "Revolution Chemnitz", an organisation named after the city where the fatal stabbing of a German man blamed on migrants in August prompted the worst far-right violence in Germany in decades.

Six men suspected of membership of the organisation were detained on Monday in the state of Saxony, where Chemnitz lies, and the south-eastern state of Bavaria.

The first suspected member of the group was detained in mid-September.

The GBA said the eighth suspect was arrested late on Monday in Chemnitz. All the suspects have had their remand extended by a judge, the prosecutor's office added.

They are accused of planning attacks on senior civil servants and politicians, the GBA said, adding that "Revolution Chemnitz" had the goals of a terrorist organisation.

Five of the suspects attacked and injured foreigners in Chemnitz on Sept. 14 using glass bottles, steel knuckle gloves and tasers.

The group had planned to carry out another attack on Oct. 3, the national holiday that marks the reunification of East and West Germany in 1991.

The violence in Chemnitz, where skinheads hounded migrants and performed the illegal Hitler salute, exposed deep divisions over Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to welcome almost one million mostly Muslim asylum seekers into Germany.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold,; Writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Ed Osmond)

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