German Newspaper Firebombed As Officials Oppose New Anti-Islam Protest

German newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost, which reprinted cartoons from the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, became the target of an arson attack on Sunday as government officials condemned another round of anti-Islamization rally.

"Rocks and then a burning object" were thrown through the newspaper's rear-court yard windows into its archive rooms, police said.

Two people who were observed to be acting suspiciously in the area have already been taken into custody, according to a report by German media firm Deutche Welle (DW). The police declined to give further details.

The daily newspaper ran three Charlie Hebdo cartoons after last Wednesday's attack in Paris.On Thursday, its headline read: "This much freedom must be possible."

Authorities have yet to conclude if the arson attack against the German newspaper is linked to the reprinting of such cartoons. While no one was injured in the incident, some files were already damaged before the fire department came to contain the fire.

Meanwhile, German ministers called on anti-Islamization movement Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (P.E.G.I.D.A.) to cancel its planned marches across the country on Monday. The group is set to wear black armbands to commemorate the victims of last week's attack against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The armbands will also be worn for the four hostages and one policewoman who were killed in other related attacks.

German Justice Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday denounced P.E.G.I.D.A.'s marches, saying: "The victims [of the Paris attacks] do not deserve to be misused by such agitators."

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere also criticized P.E.G.I.D.A., alleging that the group is using the Paris attack for its own advantage.

"I want to request those responsible...that they cancel their demonstrations for the foreseeable future, especially at a time when the whole world is shocked about the events in Paris," Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Union, was quoted as saying.

Last week, around 18,000 supported the protests in Dresden.

In a related development, a suspected ISIS supporter was arrested by the police after a raid on his apartment in North Rhine-Westphalia, said federal prosecutors on Sunday.

The suspect, identified as Nils D., 24, has German citizenship and is suspected of joining the insurgent group during his stay in Syria from October 2013 to November last year.

However, there were no indications that he had concrete plans for an attack and there was no connection to last week's attack in Paris, Reuters reported.