Minor clashes broke out as leftist protesters tried to gatecrash an anti-Islamic congress in Cologne. The demonstrators turned up hoping to disrupt a conference organised by right-wing groups who oppose the building of a large new mosque in Cologne. They argue it would unbalance the city’s traditions.

Cologne had anticipated trouble at the two-day conference, with more than 5,000 officers on duty over the weekend. Not far away, hundreds more protesters staged a peaceful march to denounce the conference and support multi-culturalism. They had planned to take their protest to the site of the proposed mosque, but were banned by a federal court order.

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