Former German minister pressed over Afghan airstrike (Extra)

Nov 26, 2009, 14:28 GMT

   Berlin - A revelation that top German defence officials were less than frank about a lethal airstrike in Afghanistan two months ago put pressure Thursday on a former defence minister, Franz Josef Jung.

Amid calls from the opposition for him to either prove he had acted in good faith or resign, Jung, a Christian Democrat who is now German labour minister, said he would address parliament later in the day on the issue.

Sources said he would step up to speak towards the end of a debate on foreign military deployments. The airstrike, by US jets operating under German directions on September 4 in Afghanistan, killed more than 100 people, including both Taliban fighters and civilians.

The issue, which led to the resignation Thursday of General Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Germany's top military officer, has also created friction within Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition.

A figure in the other coalition party, the Free Democrats (FDP), joined in the criticism of Jung for allegedly withholding information about the airstrike, according to a newspaper, the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

In a report to appear Friday, it quoted an FDP parliamentarian, Elke Hoff, who often speaks on defence issues, as saying, 'If he said something that was untrue, he must take the consequences.'

She added that if Jung had not had access to the facts about the strike, that would mean he had not been running the defence ministry properly.

It was not clear if her remarks had been cleared with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the Free Democrat leader.

Earlier in the day, the Free Democrats and Merkel's Christian Democrats in parliament had closed ranks around Jung, rejecting a motion to summon him to the lectern to give an immediate explanation of why he denied in September there was evidence of civilian deaths.