Plot thickens in Kohl saga

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JAN. 24. Germany's main Opposition party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is increasingly traumatised as the campaign-funding scandal surrounding the former Chancellor, Mr. Helmut Kohl, is gathering more momentum with fresh and dramatic revelations.

A team of auditors going through the CDU accounts now report that they cannot trace amounts up to U.S. $ 11 millions. Last night, a television channel claimed that the late French President, Mitterrand, had paid some 30 million marks to the CDU coffers. According to German media, this is part of alleged bribes - totalling 85 million marks - paid by a French oil company for the purchase of an oil refinery and a chain of petrol stations in the former Communist-ruled East Germany in the Kohl era.

It is alleged that Mr. Kohl had favoured the sale of the refinery and distribution outlets to the French oil company. Last night, in a statement Mr. Kohl said he and Mitterrand never discussed the sale.

Hence, all this is in the realm of speculation but the ground reality is that the auditors cannot trace the sources of the large chunks of remittances credited to the CDU secret bank accounts. The CDU leaders met last night in an emergency session to discuss the latest revelations. A French television station claimed that Mitterrand had used the French oil company to channel funds to the CDU to fight elections.

Mr. Kohl and Mitterrand were close personal friends and both shared a vision of united Europe under the banner of the European Union and a common currency.

Mr. Kohl was a strict disciplinarian though some critics accuse him of being despotic in his ways and style.

A former Kohl loyalist and Minister in his government, for example, today accuses Mr. Kohl of `turning CDU into an outlaw' and accuses him of leaving the CDU defenceless by insisting that he would not reveal the names of the donors.

On Sunday, there was a sudden spurt of excitement following a rumour in Berlin that Mr. Kohl was going to reveal the names of mysterious contributors. This never happened and the reported matter was finally rejected as unfounded by Mr. Kohl's office.

There is mounting tension within the CDU and the German political establishment. This was highlighted by last week's suicide of a former CDU official handling party funds.

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Section  : International
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