Possible links between the assassination of a German politician to members of highly violent underground neo-Nazi groups are alarming Germany’s security agencies. A murder confession midweek by a far-right extremist is stoking fears in the country about a possible resurgence in organized neo-Nazi violence.
The confession Wednesday by Stephan Ernst, a 45-year-old German man with a string of convictions for anti-migrant crimes, to the murder earlier this month of Walter Luebcke, a pro-migrant politician in the state of Hesse, is raising the specter of far-right terrorism.
Some security experts fear Germany could be on the cusp of more far-right violence and heading for a repeat of a murder spree seen in the late 2000s, when dozens of people were killed by members of a militant group calling itself the National Socialist Underground, NSU.
Investigators say Ernst had ties not only with the ultra-nationalist National Democratic Party of Germany but also with Combat 18, a violent neo-Nazi group which originated in Britain but has spread to other European countries and also has chapters in the United States and Canada.
Combat 18 members have been suspected in numerous murders of immigrants. The “18” in the group’s name is derived from the initials of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler - A and H are the first and eighth letters in the Latin alphabet.
On Wednesday, the Canadian government proscribed Combat 18 and the related neo-Nazi group Blood & Honor, the first time right-wing extremist groups have been added to Canada’s list of terrorist organizations. (more...)
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