Kenan Kolat, chairman of a secular association, Turkish Community,said in a television interview that his group would challenge thelegislation as discriminatory in Germany's constitutional court afterit had been gazetted into law. The previous day, the German government had approved a package of150 measures to bring immigrant communities into mainstream Germansociety, including an expansion of nearly free German-languagecourses. The length of time that each immigrant can attend such a coursewas increased by 50 per cent. Private language schools and non-profits, which obtain federalgrants to conduct the courses, must also provide baby-sitting formothers while they learn German and there will be extra grants totrain the illiterate and difficult-to-educate teenagers. The federal government also aims to set up a network of sponsorsto help immigrant families. Maria Boehmer, the federal migration commissioner, said she foundit was "totally exaggerated" for the summit to be boycotted byKolat's group, the Ditib network of mosques, the Turkish Parents'Association and the Council of Germans of Turkish Extraction. Germany has a population of nearly 82 million, of whom 7.3 millionare not German citizens, according to official statistics. But the federal government estimates that ethnic minoritiestotal 15 million people, including those who are have obtained Germancitizenship by naturalization or because they were children of mixedmarriages between a German and a foreigner.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/466852