Berlin - Germany's federal government has decided that there are sufficient grounds to proceed with a proposed ban on the country's extreme-right National Democratic Party (NPD), writes Derek Scally. However, the first concrete move to ban the 6,000-strong party has been attacked by some opposition parties and given only a cautious welcome by others.
Mr Wolfgang Gerhardt, leader of the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP), said that any ban would only be "grist the mill of right-wing radicals". Several states governed by the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have also said they are skeptical of the proposal, although the CDU was among the first to call for a ban last July.
