Two homemade explosive devices were set off outside a mosque and a conference center in the eastern German city of Dresden, police said on Tuesday. Nobody was hurt. Dresden police said in a statement that there was no immediate report on the extent of damage from the explosions late Monday. "Even though we do not have a letter of confession, we must assume there's a xenophobic background," Police President Horst Kretschmar said. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere called the attacks "outrageous" and condemned them sharply. "Aggression against people who are practicing Islam is increasing in Germany," he said. "Fortunately, people didn't get hurt, but we don't want these things to happen in Germany." Police said they found pieces of the devices in front of the buildings. An imam with his wife and two sons were inside the mosque at the time. They were not injured, but the entrance door was forced into the building by the blast. Police said they increased security outside mosques all over Dresden. "I looked out of the window and saw how somebody with a motorcycle helmet threw something," the imam's son, Ibrahim Turan, told the daily Bild newspaper. "First I thought it was a stone, but then there was a loud bang and the door was on fire." The second device exploded shortly after the first on a terrace between a hotel and the International Congress Center, a facility which can accommodate 6,000 people for conferences. The blast destroyed a decorative glass block on the outdoor terrace. Police evacuated the hotel bar and asked people to stay away from windows at the hotel building. — AP
