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Eritrean refugee arrested over murder of compatriot in Germany


    BERLIN (Reuters) - An asylum seeker from Eritrea was arrested on Thursday and faces charges of killing a 20-year-old compatriot in Dresden, an eastern German city that has become a centre of protests against Islam and refugees.

    State prosecutor Jan Hille told Reuters that the man had admitted attacking the victim during a dispute over the room they were sharing in a refugee shelter.

    "The 26-year-old man is suspected of killing his roommate with a knife," Hille said.

    The stabbing death became national news in Germany because it happened around the same time as a major anti-asylum rally by the far-right PEGIDA organisation in Dresden.

    A record 25,000 people joined the latest march of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) in Dresden on Jan. 14. The rallies began in October as a local protest against new shelters for refugees, and have attracted growing numbers of demonstrators.

    (Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)