Neo-Nazi rally in German town draws large counter-protest

Over a hundred neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists staged a demonstration in the German town of Halbe south of Berlin, which houses Germany's largest military cemetery, on Saturday. Some 1,000 police officers kept the extremists and the around 800 anti-Nazi protesters apart, and no violence was reported. Prominent politicians like Bundestag speaker Wolfgang Thierse and the regional governor Matthias Platzeck joined the counter-demonstration to support their cause. Thierse said the neo-Nazis were an insult to the dignity of those buried in the cemetery. "Commemorations cannot be left to the neo-Nazis," he told the crowd. "That is our task." The right-wing protestors staged a two-hour rally outside the town's train station. Several hundred veterans of the Soviet and German armies had traveled to attend a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of one of the last major battles of World War II. "Reconciliation over the graves is a lasting obligation," said Germany's Defense minister Peter Struck.