The anti-Islamisation
movement Pegida, which originated in Germany, has held its first march in
Austria.
But while rallies in
Germany have often attracted more than 20,000 people in recent weeks, only a
few hundred took part in Monday's rally in Vienna.
They found themselves
outnumbered by police - and even more so by about 5,000 people who had gathered
for a counter-demonstration.
Austria is the latest
European country to see anti-Islamisation protests.
Supporters of Pegida
gathered in a square in central Vienna's shouting "We are the
people", the BBC's Bethany Bell reports.
Some gave Nazi salutes
while riot police separated them from rival protesters changing "down with
Pegida".
Ranks of riot police tried to keep demonstrators and
counter-demonstrators apart
Pegida organisers both
in Austria and Germany say they are not anti-Muslim.
Austria's Green Party
criticised the march, but Heinz-Christian Strache of the right-wing Freedom Party
warned against defaming what he called "a serious civil rights
movement".
Although the turnout
in Vienna was small compared with Germany, the sentiments behind Pegida are
nothing new in Austria, our correspondent says.
The far-right Freedom
Party, which achieved 20% at a general election in 2013, has campaigned on a
similar platform for years.
Pegida originated in
the east German city of Dresden last year.
Marches on a smaller
scale have since been held in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway and sympathiser
groups have formed in a number of other European countries including Spain,
Sweden and Switzerland.
source, bbc, news
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