Germany opens probe after Salafist clashes in reaction to extreme-right party

German authorities said Wednesday they had opened a probe against 81 people after violent clashes between ultra-conservative Muslims and police outside a rally by a far-right party.

A police spokesman said 44 members of the Islamic Salafist community and another 37 people who had gathered outside a mosque in the western town of Solingen for a counter-demonstration were questioned and released.

Prosecutors have opened a probe on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and disturbing the peace, the spokesman said.

The disturbances began when 25 supporters of a small extreme-right party, Pro NRW, held a campaign event using anti-Islamic caricatures ahead of an election in Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia on May 13.

Despite a police ban on the images, the party showed copies of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed first published in 2005 which sparked violent protests around the globe as the Islamic law prohibits depictions of the prophet.

The Salafists then tried to break through a police barricade, some brandishing rocks and sticks, the spokesman told AFP.

“The deployed police officers, using pepper spray, were able to prevent a direct, violent clash between the two camps,” the spokesman said.

Two officers and a passerby were injured, as was one of the Salafists.

Police were searching the local mosque of the Salafist community, which is under observation across Germany by the domestic intelligence office for alleged extremist links.

Concern was raised last month after Salafists announced plans to hand out 25 million copies of the Quran in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in a drive to convert non-Muslims.

Authorities estimate there are about 2,500 Salafists in Germany.