WORLD : Kohl Foe Undeterred by Attack

Oskar Lafontaine will continue the fight to oust West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in December’s election despite having his throat slashed by a knife-wielding attacker at a political rally, his Social Democratic Party said today.

“He will concentrate in the next days and weeks on regaining his health,” party chairman Hans-Jochen Vogel said. “Then he will fully live up to the task the SPD has given him (as candidate for chancellor).”

Less than a day after the attack, Lafontaine, 46, was reported joking with colleagues in his Cologne hospital room. A medical bulletin said he is on the way to full recovery.

Lafontaine was struck down at an SPD election rally by a woman carrying a bunch of red roses who asked for his autograph, then slashed the right side of his neck with a butcher’s knife as he bent to sign.