[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]German officials say 18 asylum-seekers  are among the suspects in thefts
[00:06.39]and sexual assaults on women in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
[00:11.88]Interior Ministry official Tobias Plate spoke to reporters Friday morning.
[00:18.56]He said police have identified 31 suspects.
[00:22.60]Eighteen had earlier requested asylum in Germany.
[00:27.68]Plate said two of the 31 suspects are German.
[00:31.92]Nine are Algerian, eight are from Morocco, five are Iranian, and four are Syrians.
[00:39.80]The remaining three are from Iraq, Serbia and the United States.
[00:46.40]Police have documented 32 criminal acts.
[00:50.44]Plate said the large majority were tied to theft and physical injury.
[00:56.88]Three were tied to sexual assaults.
[01:00.16]Also Friday, officials forced the police chief of Cologne to retire.
[01:06.48]He had faced growing criticism of the way his department dealt with the New Year's Eve attacks.
[01:13.96]About 1,000 men had gathered near Cologne's main train station around midnight, throwing fireworks.
[01:24.00]After police moved in to stop them, smaller groups of men began surrounding women in the area.
[01:32.12]They reportedly groped the women and stole from them.
[01:37.00]A policewoman said she was among those attacked.
[01:41.12]About 90 people have filed criminal complaints, including one report of a rape.
[01:48.52]The assaults have intensified the debate over Germany's immigration policies.
[01:55.20]Some 1.1 million people registered as asylum seekers in Germany last year.
[02:03.00]Both Germany's chancellor and its justice minister have called for the perpetrators to be punished.
[02:12.04]On Thursday, the German justice minister said
[02:15.40]any asylum-seekers among the suspects could be deported if found guilty.
[02:21.88]I'm Caty Weaver.