By ROY KAMMERER
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 8, 2006; 4:08 PM
FRANKFURT, Germany -- German police say they won't intervene if English soccer fans taunt their World Cup hosts on the streets with rowdy World War II songs.
British officials hope the 40,000 English followers expected here for Saturday's team opener against Paraguay won't start singing in the first place.
Hoping to prevent any trouble, Frankfurt's police chief and a British government minister on Thursday warned that a strong force of police _ among them 80 uniformed British officers _ was prepared if song showed signs of spiraling into violence.
"Our aim is that every fan will be happy here in Frankfurt," chief Achim Thiel said.
Vernon Coaker, British Home Office minister in charge of policing and security, said he wanted to persuade English fans not to sing the songs at all.
"It's about saying to people, 'Think about it'. We're not saying 'Ban it!'" he said. If the situation escalates, however, "eventually it could come to the point when you say, 'Sorry, you're arrested.'"
Hundreds of fans arriving early in Frankfurt for Saturday's game wasted no time in striking up their traditional songs at bars and in public squares, the most common of which recounts the British Air Force downing German bombers. The hope is that the locals will ignore them rather than react.
Although British police and security services say 95 percent of 3,500 known hooligans have surrendered their passports _ a restriction imposed so they couldn't go to Germany _ other fans will sing. Coaker accepts there could be a reaction from Germans.
Coaker said the British police had done everything possible to stop troublemakers getting to Germany. It's up to those fans traveling to the World Cup to respect German laws when they go to England's opener against Paraguay and later first-round games against Trinidad and Tobago in Nuremberg and against Sweden in Cologne.
"The message of the (British) government is for people to recognize where fun may start to cause offense," he said. "The (police) and I have talked about this and want them to think about where they may cross the line."
Of the expected 40,000 England fans arriving in Frankfurt, only 10,000 will have tickets to Saturday's game. While some are expected to troll the black market, Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth said the ticketless fans can watch the game on giant video screens floating on the River Main from a fan park with a capacity of 30,000 spectators.
Roth also noted Frankfurt has several other potentially troublesome games.
About 50,000 Dutch supporters are expected for the headline game of the first round between the Netherlands and Argentina on June 21. It also had the potential of demonstrations when Iran comes into town to face Portugal on June 17.
Anti-Semitic comments made recently by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have angered Jews in Germany. With Vice President Mohammed Aliabadi here and expected to go to some World Cup games, protests are likely.
"Of course something (bad) can happen," Roth said. "If something will happen we are prepared. We are supported by the police. They have thought out plans."
German police have stepped up checks on the Polish border in anticipation of an influx of fans heading for Poland's opening match Friday night against Ecuador in Gelsenkirchen. A recent spate of hooliganism in Poland has raised fears of violence from the country's fans.
German authorities expect most fans from Poland, where wages are much lower than in Germany, to travel late to save on accommodation costs.