Reuters/Berlin
A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has quit the cabinet after being accused of covering up details of an air strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan when he was defence minister.
The resignation of Franz Josef Jung, who was pilloried for failing to come clean about the September 4 air strike called in by German forces, was an embarrassing setback for Merkel just one month into her second term.
Jung said he would quit as labour minister a day after it was announced the head of Germany’s armed forces and a former deputy defence minister were stepping down over the air strike the Afghan government say killed 69 Taliban and 30 civilians.
“This is a bad start for Merkel,” said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist from Berlin’s Free University. “And it’s going to be a bumpy ride for a bit yet.”
The demise of Jung caps a testing month for Merkel, who has had to contend with carmaker General Motors’ shock decision to reject Berlin’s plans for Opel, as well as disputes within her new coalition over German-Polish relations and planned tax cuts.
Germany’s army, the Bundeswehr, called in a US warplane to carry out the raid in Kunduz. Kabul’s casualty tally made it the deadliest operation involving German troops since World War II.
Jung, a member of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), had repeatedly denied civilians were killed in the attack, which has strengthened opposition to Germany’s presence in Afghanistan.
On Thursday Jung admitted to parliament he had known for weeks of the existence of a military report that pointed to civilian deaths. But he said he had had no “concrete knowledge” of its contents because it had been passed to Nato.
His testimony was watched by a frowning Merkel, who is working to extend a mandate for Germany’s 4,250 troops in Afghanistan, and had refused to offer him unconditional backing.
Newspapers from across the political spectrum condemned Jung after his performance in the Bundestag lower house. One called the affair the first major crisis of Merkel’s new centre-right administration.
Jung announced he was stepping down in a terse statement delivered at a hastily called news conference at his ministry.
“I hereby assume the political responsibility for the internal communication policy of the defence ministry,” he said.
Jung’s removal may not spare Merkel further embarrassment on the civilian deaths, as opposition parties have said that they will order a parliamentary investigation into the air strike.
“Because of all this Merkel is going to have a lot more trouble getting public support for the Afghanistan mission,” said Neugebauer at Berlin’s Free University.
The German parliament is expected to renew a mandate next week which allows Merkel’s government to deploy up to 4,500 in the country, but officials have indicated this number could be raised early next year.
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