Hostage negotiator to calm Bayern fans

Bayern Munich have called in a renowned conflict management expert and hostage negotiator for next month's talks with disgruntled fans.

Wolfgang Salewski, a psychology professor, who has advised former German chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl on conflict management, will moderate the round-table discussion between Bayern's bosses and supporters.

Salewski helped to negotiate during the hijacking of a Lufthansa airplane in Mogadishu in 1977, when all 86 passengers were later rescued, and has worked with Germany's anti-terrorist unit GSG 9.

"Conflicts always has two sides. One unpleasant and the other an opportunity for change. I always see things with the second eye," Salewski told a Munich newspaper.