German police said on Saturday they prevented a man from setting himself on fire during a demonstration against the Munich Security Conference near Karlsplatz, a popular historical square in the Bavarian capital's city center.

The man had doused himself with gasoline and ran toward a crowd with a lighter in his hand when police stopped him.

Police told DW he was a 50-year-old from Iraq with German residence. According to police, the man said he wanted to draw attention to the political situation and hardships faced by people in Iraq.

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Police said they are working under the assumption that the man's intention was to harm himself, and not to injure the crowd of people.

The man was slightly injured by breathing in gasoline fumes and is currently being treated in a psychiatric hospital.

Around 4,000 people gathered in the streets of the city to protest the Munich Security Conference, which is running from Friday to Sunday.

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mm/wmr (dpa, AFP)