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- WORLD, Page 49World NotesWEST GERMANYCracking Down On Neo-Nazis
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- Right-wing groups in West Germany have grown increasingly
- visible recently, but authorities last week drew the line at
- just how far such movements may go. Bonn banned the 170-member
- neo-Nazi National Assembly political group, confiscating
- ammunition, knives and swastikas during nationwide raids on
- offices and members' apartments. "This strike against neo-Nazis
- should be seen as an unmistakable warning signal," said
- Interior Minister Friedrich Zimmermann. "West Germany will not
- be a playing field for right-wing extremism."
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- The raids came only ten days after the new-right party, the
- Republicans, won a startling 7.5% of the vote in West Berlin
- city elections. Zimmermann said the ban on the National
- Assembly did not affect the Republican Party, because it is not
- considered "extremist." As for the National Assembly group,
- leader Michael Kuhnen, who remained free despite the ban,
- announced the formation of a new neo-Nazi party.
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