German Mayor Resigns After Far-Right Pressure

BERLIN (AP) -- A mayor in eastern Germany has resigned after far-right protesters angry about plans to house asylum seekers in the village threatened to march on his house.

Markus Nierth says he stepped down as mayor of Troeglitz in Saxony-Anhalt, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Berlin, because local authorities refused to ban the march.

In a Facebook post, Nierth says he wasn't prepared to expose his children to the sight of armed police outside their window, and "racist and hate-filled chants."

Saxony-Anhalt's Interior Ministry said Monday that it opposed "all forms of xenophobia and racism," but didn't immediately comment on Nierth's resignation.

The far-right National Democratic Party, or NPD, which had organized previous protests against housing 50 refugees in Troeglitz, called off its planned march Sunday after Nierth resigned.