Berlin- Demonstrators attacked a pro-Israeli stand on Saturday during rallies in German cities against the war in Gaza.

The incident occurred in the northern city of Kassel, where hundreds of protesters marched through the streets calling for an end to the hostilities.

A small group of protesters tried to grab Israeli flags and posters from the stand, while other demonstrators egged them on. Police defused the situation and the march proceeded.

No violence was reported from two other rallies called by the Islamic communities in the northern ports of Hamburg and Kiel. More than 1,100 people took art in the protests, police said.

Berlin - Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter S

Berlin - Syria is ready to cooperate with Barack Obama after he takes over as president of the United States, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad said in an interview released Saturday.

"The new US administration has to commit itself to the Middle East peace process. We are willing to help them, along with the Europeans," Assad told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Taipei- Two maintenance cars collided during test runs on Taiwan's high-speed rail system on Saturday, leaving eight Taiwan engineers and two German engineers injured, one seriously.

The crash occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning at Yanchao, Kaohsiung County, south Taiwan, when the two maintenance cars were undergoing tests before their formal delivery to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation.

The two German-made cars running on opposite lines collided, leaving a total of 10 engineers in both cars with multiple injuries.

Berlin/Kabul - Employees at the German embassy in Kabul were among the injured in a suicide bomb blast which took place near the diplomatic compound Saturday, killing at least four and wounding dozens.

A spokesman for the German foreign ministry in Berlin said that "several colleagues" of the embassy had been injured, according to early reports.

Two Afghan civilians and two US soldiers are so far known to have died in the blast. Around 35 others were wounded.

Kabul - A blast believed to have been triggered by a suicide bomber wounded at least seven Afghans and four US soldiers near the German embassy in Kabul on Saturday, officials said.

The attack took place in the front the embassy, which is across from a US military base and some 200 metres from the presidential palace, officials said.

Several vehicles in front of the embassy's gate were ablaze and thick smoke was billowing from the area.

Tolo, a private TV channel showed several Afghan municipal workers soaked in their blood being rushed off the scene by a pick-up truck.

The area, which is one of the city's main intersection was cordoned off by Afghan and US military soldiers.