1ST LEAD Stabbed Cologne mayoral candidate being operated on By dpa correspondents

Dusseldorf (dpa) - Independent Cologne mayoral candidate Henriette Reker was being operated on following a knife attack while she was out campaigning Saturday, current Mayor Juergen Roters told n-tv."We hope the operation goes well and that she feels better as soon as possible," he told the German broadcaster.The day before Cologne was due to elect its new mayor, Reker, 58, was stabbed and seriously injured Saturday morning on the campaign trail at a weekly market.A man armed with a knife attacked her shortly after 9 am (0700 GMT) at a campaign stall run by the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a police spokesman said.Four other people were wounded in the ensuing scuffle. Emergency services deployed a helicopter after the attack.Media reports cited police sources as saying the man had cited his grievance as the positive policy towards refugees that Reker and Chancellor Angela Merkel have adopted as motive for the attack.The 44-year-old attacker was arrested at the scene, where police and the public prosecutor launched an investigation.The weekly market is held in the city district of Braunsfeld. Reker‘s colleague Frederik Schorn told dpa that at least one of her campaign team had also been injured in the attack.The people of Cologne elect a new mayor on Sunday. Reker is being supported by the CDU, the Greens and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).