Large communist demo in Berlin

Tens of thousands of people have marched through eastern Berlin in memory of the German socialist leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, who were murdered by members of a right-wing militia in January 1919.

The organisers - the reformed communist party, the PDS - said the demonstration, which is held every year, was the biggest left-wing march in Berlin since German unification seven years ago.

The PDS said the large turn-out - estimated at up to one-hundred-thousand people - was a sign that the marchers rejected the current high unemployment and the dismantling of the welfare state in Germany.

A separate demonstration, called by various left-wing groups, resulted in several arrests after police were pelted with bottles and stones.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service