German court urges anti-Islam author Sarrazin and publisher to settle

A German court on Monday urged former German politician and central banker Thilo Sarrazin and his publisher to reach an amicable settlement in a dispute over the publication of Sarrazin's latest book on his opposition to Muslim immigration.

Sarrazin is accusing publishers Random House of harming his reputation on the grounds that it has decided not to publish "Hostile Takeover: How Islam blocks progress and threatens society."

The former Berlin senator and member of the executive board of the Bundesbank told the Munich state court that he had delivered the content as agreed in February with the aim of publication in August.

Random House argued that the manuscript - as all of the controversial author's work - had required intensive work because of the numerous footnotes that needed checking. The two sides then agreed to suspend work on the text.

The court is now seeking a settlement acceptable to both sides on what should happen to the advance payments and whether a joint public statement should be issued.

Earlier, Random House said that Sarrazin, whose 2010 book "Germany Abolishes Itself" raised a storm, was free to take his manuscript to another publisher, it said.

Sarrazin, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), has also published a book critical of the euro under the title: "Europe does not need the euro." His views on the heritability of intelligence and genetic theory have also provoked controversy.    (dpa)