Berlin - The German government hoped Wednesday for a swift decision on the fate of alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk, hours after a last-minute US court ruling temporarily blocked his deportation to Germany.

A spokesman for the German justice ministry said Wednesday they were prepared for an imminent decision, although they had "no updated information" over the internal US deportation process, which he said Germany was not involved in.

German officials would become involved from the minute Demjanjuk set foot on German soil, the spokesman added.

The US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, granted Demjanjuk's stay Tuesday, hours after federal agents removed the 89-year-old from his home in the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills in anticipation of sending him to Germany.

Demjanjuk's lawyers argue that he is too ill to stand trial and that his medical condition would worsen in incarceration.

The president of Dachau concentration camp memorial site, Max Mannheimer, expressed disappointment Wednesday at the delay.

"I don't think it's acceptable, because he had no pity with the victims," Mannheimer said, adding, "We don't want revenge, but justice."

German authorities allege that the Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk, then 23, worked from March-September 1943 as a guard in Poland at Sobibor concentration camp, where at least 29,000 Jews died during that time.

Prosecutors in Munich issued an arrest warrant for him three weeks ago. (dpa)