The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A9

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016 NEWS THE BALTIMORE SUN 9 jSSSiSl IB 111. I pbwiijS OFFICE OF THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT Iran's Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday greets Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, with whom Rouhani's website says the president discussed Iran's dispute with Saudi Arabia. Iran leader: Saudis can't cover their 'big crime' OLIVER BERGEPA Dozens of women were allegedly attacked at the main train station in Cologne, Germany. Sexual assaults in Germany ignite debate over migrants tacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced it was severing relations with Iran, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave.

Sudan and Bahrain said Monday they would sever ties with Iran. The United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to the level of the charge d'affaires, while other nations issued statements criticizing Iran. Tuesday, Kuwait announced the recalling of its ambassador in a statement carried on the state-run Kuwait News Agency. But Kuwait did not say it would sever ties to Iran. Meanwhile, hundreds of Shiite protesters marched Tuesday in Sitra, Bahrain, over al-Nimr's execution.

An Associated Press journalist saw police fire tear gas and birdshot, while some protesters threw gasoline bombs. A number of protesters were injured. Jon Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press By Frank Jordans Associated Press BERLIN A string of sex assaults and robberies during New Year's celebrations in Germany has fueled debate about the country's ability to integrate large numbers of migrants, after police said that men who targeted dozens of women in Cologne appeared to be of "Arab or North African origin." Political leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attacks, though many also warned against hasty conclusions about the perpetrators. But to some Germans already uneasy about the 1 million asylum seekers their country took in last year, the incident seemed to confirm simmering fears.

"Is this the 'cosmopolitan and colorful' Germany that Merkel wished for?" asked Frauke Petry, leader of the nationalist party Alternative for Germany. Petry's party, known by its German acronym AfD, has called for a clampdown on the number of asylum seekers allowed into the country, a sentiment shared among a growing number of supporters in Merkel's own center-right bloc. "It's unacceptable that women are sexually molested and robbed by young migrants on the streets and public squares of German cities at night," said Andreas Scheuer, general secretary of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian wing of Merkel's party. His party has called for a cap of 200,000 asylum seekers in Germany a year, a demand its lawmakers are likely to repeat at a meeting Wednesday with Merkel. Others in Germany cautioned against tying the refugee question to the issue of street crime when the facts of the incident aren't known yet.

"It's completely improper to link a group that appeared to come from North Africa with the refugees," Cologne Mayor Hen-riette Reker told reporters after a meeting with police Tuesday. Syria, Albania and Kosovo were the top three countries of origin for asylum seekers in Germany last year. Cem Ozdemir, a Green Party lawmaker of Turkish origin, described the attacks as "horrible and deeply misogynist." At least 90 criminal complaints have been filed, including one allegation of rape, police said. Police said the attackers had gathered in large numbers near the city's main train station, drinking alcohol, releasing fireworks and mingling with other revelers. Separately, police in Hamburg appealed for witnesses who observed similar assaults and thefts in the St.

Pauli district German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the attacks shouldn't be used to bolster an anti-refugee agenda "In criminal law what's important is proving a crime, and everyone is equal before the law," he said. "It doesn't matter where someone comes from, it matters what they did." Some 300 protesters gathered Tuesday in front of Cologne Cathedral, next to the train station. One woman held a placard that read: "Mrs Merkel, where are you? What do you say? This is scary." gious leader in its country," Rouhani said. "Undoubtedly, such actions can't cover up that big crime." Iran Vice President Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said Tuesday the country's intelligence services were investigating the diplomatic mission attacks and that police officers who failed to take action to stop the assaults would be prosecuted. Iranian police say at least 50 people already have been arrested.

In a letter to the United Nations on Monday, Iran expressed "regret" over the attacks and vowed to arrest those responsible. The diplomatic standoff began Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges. Al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, was executed after being convicted of sedition and other crimes, though he long denied advocating violence. The news has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan. In Iran, protesters at By Ali Akbar Dareini and Jon Gambrell Tribune Newspapers TEHRAN, Iran Iran's president said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia cannot "cover up" its execution of a leading Shiite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.

President Hassan Rouhani's comments came as Kuwait announced it had recalled its ambassador to Iran over attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. The execution last weekend of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric and opposition figure in Saudi Arabia, has heightened the Saudi-Iran rivalry, threatening to derail already shaky peace efforts over the wars in Syria and Yemen. A statement on his official website said Rouhani discussed the current diplomatic dispute with visiting Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen. "The Saudi government has taken a strange action and cut off its diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran to cover its crimes of beheading a reli Sg) ENTIRE TEAM! ANY HEATING SERVICE When you open the door to Horizon Services, you see a friendly, clean cut technician who's ready and eager to fix your heating problem. But you're really only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

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