German neo-Nazis accused of exploiting girl's murder

Lawmakers and Jewish groups have condemned neo-Nazis in the German state of Saxony for exploiting the murder of a young girl to boost their popularity by holding vigils and demanding the death penalty for pedophiles.

The murder of an 8-year-old girl, whose body was found by a pond four days after she went missing from Leipzig, has shocked many Germans and the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) has seized on public anger.

It is part of a strategy to address populist issues, such as child abuse and immigration, to widen their appeal, say experts.

Described by Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution as racist, anti-Semitic, revisionist and inspired by Hitler's Nazis, the NPD has seats in two state assemblies, and made strong gains in council elections in Saxony in June.

This week about 160 right-wing activists marched through the eastern city of Leipzig to commemorate the murdered girl, said police, who are still investigating the crime.

Wearing dark clothes, baseball hats and dark glasses, the demonstrators carried banners with slogans such as "Death penalty for child abusers," and "No future without us, National Socialism Now!" alongside pictures of young children.

Cynical use of shocking case

Politicians and local community leaders condemned the NPD, whose supporters also joined vigils organized by locals. "The hijacking by right-wing extremists of this shocking murder is appalling and inhuman," Mayor Burkhard Jung said.

The Central Council of Jews also slammed the NPD: "(They) will stop at nothing and use the devil for their own purposes if necessary," CCJ President in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, told MDR radio.

NPD deputy leader Holger Apfel urged the police to find the perpetrator quickly and tighten the law on child abuse cases: "You potential criminals of tomorrow, you potential sex killers, if you dare to touch our children, you'll pay for it with your heads," Apfel said in a statement.

The NPD, whose officials praise Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for saying Israel should be wiped off the map, has strong support in the former communist east where unemployment and disillusionment with the established parties run high; but experts say the NPD is trying to become more mainstream.

"The strategy is for the NPD to make itself acceptable among more voters and focus on policies with broad appeal," Eckhard Jesse, a professor specializing in political extremism at Chemnitz Technical University, told Reuters.

"Overall the strategy is a smart one but in this case it has been very transparent and may not be effective," he added.