German riot police deployed for anti-Islam AfD conference in Cologne

by Dramelin 6:30 AM 0 comments

Thousands of police officers have been deployed in Cologne, Germany, as thousands of left-wing protesters gather to demonstrate against an Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party conference.
The AfD, a populist right-wing and anti-Islam party, will seek to choose a new co-leader to take it up to a general election later this year.
Police have deployed 4,000 officers.
Two have been injured in clashes, one while escorting party members.
They have described the mood as tense and there are several reports of arrests.
One man was detained after a police officer was hurt.
Some 10,000 protesters are there already, the German tabloid Bild reports (in German).
Many shops are closed for the day, people in Cologne have tweeted, and police helicopters are overhead.
Bicycle blockade Thousands of armed police officers are holding protesters back from the entrance to the hotel where the conference is taking place.
About 100 people tried to break through a police line on the opposite side of the Rhine river from the conference venue, Die Welt newspaper reports (in German).
Outside the hotel, 50-60 people blocked access using a chain of bicycles.
Police broke this up, leading to skirmishes with protesters.
It is not the first time an AfD conference has attracted demonstrations.
When the party met last year in Stuttgart, hundreds of protesters were detained.
Police escorted 13 couples through nearby streets to their wedding ceremonies in the city hall, local news site RP Online reports.
One told the site (in German): "We`re getting straight out and celebrating in Bochum [another city in the region].
" AfD co-leader Frauke Petry announced earlier this week that she would not lead the party into the September general election.
On Saturday she told the conference: "Let us show that .
we are here in this political Germany to stay and will lead this country and Europe towards a new blossoming of democracy.
" The party pushed Angela Merkel`s governing conservatives into third place in a regional electionlast year and hopes to build on its success by getting its first seats in the federal parliament.
It rose on a wave of opposition to Chancellor Angela Merkel`s 2015 open-door policy to refugees.
However, all the mainstream parties have said they will refuse to form a coalition with the AfD.
Opinion polls suggest a sharp recent drop in the party`s popularity - from 15% late last year to between 7% and 11% now.
It is beset by infighting and its reputation has been dented by a local leader`s comments in January that the Holocaust memorial in Berlin was a "memorial of defeat".
The party has voted to expel him and he will not be allowed to attend the conference.
However, some delegates say they will put forward a motion aimed at keeping him in the party.
While this weekend is officially a party conference, in truth it will be a weekend of crisis talks for the AfD, the BBC`s Jenny Hill reports.