New Year attacks overshadow start of Cologne street Carnival

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - Revelers streamed onto the streets of Cologne on Thursday for the start of the city's annual street Carnival, amid heightened security following an unprecedented series of robberies and sexual assaults mostly targeting women at New Year.

The five-day Carnival kicks off with the traditional "Weiberfastnacht" festivities - a day when women symbolically take charge of the city. Organizers have urged revelers to report any harassment to security personnel, and the number of police patrolling the streets has been doubled compared with last year to over 2,000.

Josef Sommer, who heads the city's tourism agency, said he was confident the measures would prevent a repeat of the New Year's assaults and allay latent fears of Paris-style attacks by extremists.

"Everyone can celebrate Carnival the way they're used to, with the exception perhaps that people should follow police advice to refrain from wearing costumes that include realistic replica weapons," Sommer told The Associated Press.

The New Year assaults prompted a nationwide uproar, the removal of Cologne's police chief and a heated debate about integration at a time when Germany has seen huge numbers of refugees come into the country. Almost 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany last year and most of the attackers in Cologne were described as being of "Arab or North African" origin.

Cologne prosecutors say they have received 1,037 criminal complaints over the New Year events, including 446 allegations of sexual assault, three of them rape.

Criminal proceedings have begun against 50 individuals, of whom 11 are in custody, said Cologne prosecutor Ulrich Bremer. Most of the suspects are from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, he said. Several are asylum seekers.

Cologne authorities have put in place additional video surveillance and street lighting to deter attackers and make it easier to catch any perpetrators. The city's new police chief Juergen Mathies said, however, that it would probably be impossible to prevent all crime, noting that last year's Rose Monday Carnival parade also saw 50 allegations of sexual assault, from groping to rape.

Underlining tensions in Germany, police in Berlin said Thursday they had conducted raids in an investigation of four Algerian men suspected of planning attacks in Germany and having ties to the Islamic State group. And the government said more than 91,000 asylum seekers arrived in the country last month.

In Cologne, social workers have conducted training sessions for migrants to enjoy and understand the boisterous celebrations without overstepping the mark.

Munef Alyousef, a 36-year-old Syrian who has been in Cologne for nine months, said he was looking forward to the celebrations, which usually involve outrageous costumes, dancing in the streets and heaps of sweets for children.

"Yes, I like it," he told reporters during a training session. "All smiling, looking to dance."

Sommer, the tourism chief, said Carnival is a lucrative event for Cologne, but more importantly the city has an image to protect.

"Cologne has an image as an international and tolerant city, where people from all cultures celebrate and have fun together," he said.