Excerpt:
German public opinion is deeply split over the fate of a central banker whose disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants have triggered a heated debate on race and integration, surveys showed on Wednesday.
Over the past week and a half, Thilo Sarrazin has dominated headlines with criticism of Germany's large Muslim community, and contentious remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and a host of leading politicians have rebuked the 65-year-old Sarrazin, who has said immigrants of Turkish and Arab origin refuse to integrate, sponge off the state and make the country less intelligent on average.