Austrian mayor resigns over alleged racist, anti-Semitic comments

VIENNA – The mayor of an Austrian village says he's resigning after being accused of racist and anti-Semitic comments.

Karl Simlinger has denied some of the remarks attributed to him by an opposition member of the village council. But on Friday he acknowledged making a statement that "grossly contravenes my convictions and my personal views."

Simlinger didn't specify what he meant, but may have been referring to accusations that he had likened foreign asylum-seekers in Austria to excrement and said journalists should be hanged "like the Jews."

Simlinger allegedly made the comments during discussion about building a home for refugees in his village of Gfoehl, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Vienna.

In Austria, such remarks are a crime and an anti-racist group is pressing charges against Simlinger.