Merkel apologizes for the neo-Nazi killings

BERLIN - The Associated Press

German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a speech during a memorial ceremony for victims of far-right violence in Germany at the Concert Hall at the Gendarmen Markt in Berlin Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. AP Photo

Chancellor Angela Merkel has apologized publicly to the relatives of 10 people, mostly immigrants, suspected of being killed by a neo-Nazi group whose actions German authorities failed to detect for more than a decade.

The group is suspected of killing eight people of Turkish origin and a Greek man between 2000 and 2006. Those killings went unsolved for years. The group is also believed to have killed a policewoman in 2007.

Merkel told a memorial today the killings were "a disgrace for our country." She says some victims' relatives were unjustly suspected in the murders, telling them: "I ask for forgiveness." The neo-Nazi activities came to light in November when two suspected founders were found dead and a third suspected member turned herself in.