Marx's manifesto revived in Germany

BERLIN, April 14 (UPI) -- A top German far-left leader has called for parts of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto to be adopted as policy for his party.

Oskar Lafontaine, co-leader of Germany's far-left Left Party, in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt said he found some sections of the Communist Manifesto to be "very contemporary," saying they should be adopted into the party program.

The segment he would like to include reads: "For exploitation veiled by religious and political illusions, (the bourgeoisie) has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation."

The Left Party, Germany's most popular opposition group, is particularly strong in the eastern states, where support reaches 30 percent in some areas.

Lafontaine, once termed "Red Oskar" by the British tabloid media, is a former Social Democrat who ran for chancellor and held the post of federal finance minister. Together with Gregor Gysi, he leads the Left Party, which is made up of disillusioned Social Democrats and ex-members of the SED party that ruled former Communist East Germany.