German Minister Resigns Over Afghan Airstrike

[tekisui]

Source: NYT

BERLIN — Germany’s former defense minister, Franz Josef Jung, resigned Friday, saying he accepted “political responsibility” for accusations that the military withheld information on a deadly airstrike in Afghanistan in September that killed civilians as well as insurgents.

Mr. Jung’s announcement followed the resignation Thursday of the chief of staff of the German armed forces in an episode that has set off tremors in both the political and military establishments in Germany.

Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, said Thursday that the chief of staff, Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan and a senior official in the Defense Ministry, State Secretary Peter Wichert, had tendered their resignations after a German news report that information on civilian casualties had been withheld from the public and from prosecutors.

Mr. Jung was defense minister at the time of the airstrike and took over as labor minister in a new government last month. In a statement Friday he said he was resigning in part to shield the military from “unjustified attacks.”

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/europe/28germany.html