Anti-G8 attacks escalate in Germany

HAMBURG, Germany, May 22 (UPI) -- Despite a recent crackdown by German authorities on the far-left, anti-globalization attacks continue to spread ahead of the G8 summit.

A series of fire bombings in recent months sparked a massive raid earlier this month. Police searched some 40 properties in six German states in connection with investigations against two groups trying to disrupt the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm. Dozens of suspects were arrested in the raid that sparked protests and demonstrations among the left.

Violence is not abating, however.

The latest fire bombing, which happened early Tuesday morning, targeted the private Mercedes of Kai Diekmann, the editor-in-chief of Germany's mass-selling daily Bild. The newspaper is seen by the radical left as its conservative arch-enemy; when Germany experienced its worst period of far-left terrorism in the 1970s, Bild embarked on a campaign to get the radicals jailed, or killed.

Observers fear that the latest arson attack is a sign that the far-left is gearing up for more violence during the upcoming G8 summit. In Berlin alone, there have been more than 50 politically motivated arson attacks since the start of the year.

While the anti-globalization movement includes Catholic groups and even a neo-Nazi party, the biggest potential for radical violence is in the hands of the radical left.

Germany says it is prepared: It has built a security fence around the summit venue and during the summit will launch the biggest police deployment for a single event in its post-war history.