WORLD : E. Germans Rally in Protests
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EAST BERLIN — Hundreds of thousands of East Germans staged pro-democracy demonstrations in three cities today, but the country’s new leader, Egon Krenz, vowed to preserve the Communist Party’s hold on political power.
As many as 300,000 people massed on the streets of Leipzig, East Germany’s second-largest city, for the sixth consecutive Monday, Protestant Church sources said. “The whole of the city is full,” a source said by telephone.
In the northern city of Schwerin, about 80,000 people gathered on the streets with banners and candles in a silent protest, church sources said. Slogans called for the legalization of New Forum, East Germany’s largest opposition group, which claims 30,000 members.
In the southwestern city of Halle, thousands more marched with banners to local Communist Party headquarters, church sources said. As in other cities, marchers protested unhindered by police, who have not intervened in rallies since the weekend of Oct. 7-8, when they broke up protests in East Berlin.
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