BONN Germany AP Interior Minister Otto Schily said Tuesday that Germany must keep its ban on the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK because of the rebel group's potential for violence. Schily's comments followed an appeal by a Greens politician Angela Beers who argued that the 1993 ban has increased tensions between Germany's Turkish and Kurdish residents. She urged Germany's new government to lift the ban and to use the opportunity created by the arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan to push for a political solution in Turkey where PKK guerrillas have been fighting for a homeland since 1984. Ocalan was arrested in Italy on a German warrant but Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has refused to seek his extradition citing fears that a trial in Germany would lead to unrest. Beers also said the ban has given Turkey justification for its actions against the Kurdish population which has in turn fueled tensions in Turkey and Germany. About 400000 Kurds are among Germany's 2 million Turkish residents. She and lawmaker Ulla Jelpke of the ex-communist Party of Democratic Socialists are backing an initiative by the Kurdistan Information Center in Cologne which has collected 10000 signatures to lift the PKK ban. The Interior Minister ruled out lifting the ban saying that many PKK rebels have been convicted of terror crimes and the group uses violence to extort financial donations. ``The PKK is an organization in which hides an incalculable militant potential for danger'' Schily said. The opposition Christian Democrats agreed saying lifting the ban would be ``playing with fire.'' Germany banned the party in 1993 after attacks on Turkish consulates and businesses in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. cb-aet APW19981201.1360.txt.body.html APW19981201.1369.txt.body.html