Schroder insists German racism is confined to a small minority

The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, has called on his country's international partners not to blame all Germans for the wave of right-wing violence that has dominated the headlines in recent days.

Speaking in Majorca, where he is on holiday, Mr Schroder said it was important that Germany's neighbours should distinguish between the small minority of racist thugs and the population as a whole. "I am concerned above all that it should be clear throughout the world that Germany cannot be equated with these truly terrible incidents," he said.

The chancellor promised to take tough action against rightwing extremists who have killed four people in the past eight weeks and are suspected of carrying out a bomb attack in Dusseldorf that injured nine immigrants.

"The force of the police is needed, the force of justice is needed, but help is also needed for those who run after the skinheads for social reasons," he said.

As the debate over right-wing extremism continued yesterday, politicians from all parties proposed a variety of measures to clamp down on violent skinheads. Berlin's Christian Democratic Interior Minister, Mr Eckart Werthebach, said the authorities should search the homes and monitor the telephones of known extremists.

"Now is the hour of repression, the hour to fight. After the summer break, we'll address the right-wing ringleaders. They should know that they are under observation," he said.

Ms Renate Kunast, a co-leader of the Greens, said that tough action against the far right was welcome but warned that any measures under consideration must respect civil rights and the rule of law.

As conservative politicians called for the introduction of special courts to process racist offences quickly, similar to those used in France for football hooligans, the veteran rock singer Udo Lindenberg said that musicians should stage a series of "Rock against Racism" concerts.

Reuters adds: A Berlin court sentenced a neo-Nazi to two years in prison yesterday for preparing a bomb attack and for spreading Nazi propaganda.

The 22-year-old sentenced was a former member of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) who admitted making a pipe-bomb to use against political opponents. He told the court he had learned how to build a bomb on the Internet.