German minister admits to militant past

Militant: Now Mr Fischer is facing calls to resign

By the BBC's Sunita Nahar

The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, has told news magazine about his past as a militant youth in the 1970s.

Mr Fischer, who is regarded as one of Germany's most popular politicians, told the magazine Die Stern he belonged to a left-wing movement in Frankfurt which did not shy away from direct action.

The article was accompanied by photos showing Mr Fischer fighting during a street protest in 1973.

The magazine quotes him as saying that he and his colleagues were running away from a demonstration which had been broken up violently.

Armed fight

The police, armed with truncheons, were there to disperse the demonstrators and, asked if he then tried to defend himself, Mr Fischer says that he did.

He was, he says, a militant - but he rejected the armed fight and fought hard politically.

But Mr Fischer stresses that he never considered joining an extremist guerrilla group.

Non-violent

The revelations have led to calls for his resignation.

A parliamentary leader of the main opposition party in Germany, the Christian Democrats, said that someone who acted in such a manner was no representative of a non-violent society and should no longer remain in office.

In two weeks' time, Mr Fischer is due to give evidence as a character witness in the trial of Hans-Joachim Klein, who belonged to the same left-wing movement as him.

Mr Klein is accused of helping the extremist known as Carlos the Jackal kidnap oil ministers at an Opec conference in Vienna in 1975.