Anti-mosque group's rally in Germany draws protests

Cologne: Police say about 1,600 people have protested against a so-called "anti-Islamification" rally held by a group that opposes the building of a big new mosque in Cologne.

Mayor Fritz Schramma says residents showed on Saturday the city is "open and tolerant, and Cologne is committed when it comes to defending these values."

Police say there were about 300 people at the right-wing Pro Koeln group's rally. They included some 100 counter-demonstrators who tried to drown out speakers by whistling and shouting "Nazis out."

Authorities banned a planned nationalist march to the future mosque site.

Larger protests last September disrupted an "anti-Islamification conference" organised by Pro Koeln, which had invited members of nationalist parties elsewhere in Europe.