Bosses warn banker they plan tough action as race row deepens

Germany's central bank has publicly accused board member Thilo Sarrazin of damaging its reputation and warned of further action against him after comments he made about Jews and immigrants.

Mr Sarrazin defended himself at a news conference yesterday in Berlin, denying he had used racial theory and insisting his conclusions about the danger to Germany from Muslim immigrants in his new book were based not on ethnic differences, but on cultural heritage.

The central banker, formerly finance minister of Berlin city state, also stood by statistics he said showed that Muslim immigrants were undermining German society.

The Bundesbank said in a statement after an extraordinary board meeting that his views did not reflect those of the central bank. It wanted to talk to Mr Sarrazin "without delay" and would decide on further steps "soon afterwards".

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Mr Sarrazin at the weekend, saying his remarks were "completely unacceptable", and urged the central bank to act. However, Mr Sarrazin said he was certain he had done nothing to warrant dismissal from the Bundesbank, which can only remove him for serious misconduct.

"I can't imagine the chancellor has had the time to read my book," he said, referring to his 464-page work, Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany does away with itself), which German media said was heading for the bestseller lists.

"It's very balanced," Mr Sarrazin said of the book, whose launch was met by protests in Berlin yesterday.

According to excerpts in German media, the book says Muslims cost the state more than they contribute, resist integration and may one day form a majority.

"I don't want us to end up as strangers in our own land, not even on a regional basis," Mr Sarrazin writes.

The banker caused further outrage when he said in a newspaper interview that Jews and Basques had genes that set them apart from others.

Mr Sarrazin said he had been referring to recent findings published in the media, and added his book showed that any bias he held towards Jews was in fact positive.

But Jewish leaders said his remarks threatened to stigmatise Muslims in the same way the Nazis did the Jews.

"We need bridge builders in Germany, not hate preachers," said prominent Jewish lawyer Michel Friedman.

Germany is home to at least four million Muslims, the majority of them of Turkish origin.