Skinhead group banned after raids in Bavaria

International Herald Tribune/January 23, 2004

Munich Bavarian state authorities banned a skinhead group accused of inciting anti-Semitism after seizing firearms and neo-Nazi propaganda during raids on the group Thursday.

The Bavarian interior minister, Günther Beckstein, said he had outlawed the Fraenkische Aktionsfront, which is believed to have about 40 members. No arrests were made, though the police opened an investigation against a member suspected of illegal possession of firearms.

Searches of 12 apartments linked to the group turned up five firearms, two collapsible clubs and propaganda materials, Beckstein said. The group, founded in 2001, has been spreading anti-Semitic and other Nazi-related slogans in the Nuremberg area, he said.