A German parliamentary inquiry interrupted its questioning of Dr Helmut Kohl amid chaotic scenes yesterday after it emerged that the former chancellor has been holding regular meetings with Christian Democratic (CDU) members of the inquiry panel.
Dr Kohl admitted that he has been meeting the CDU panel members in his Berlin office almost every Wednesday at 5 p.m. but denied that the meetings were part of a plot to influence the work of the inquiry.
Social Democratic (SPD) and Green members of the panel pointed out that the meetings usually took place a day or two before key witnesses were due to be questioned about Dr Kohl's receipt of secret, illegal donations for his party. The inquiry is looking into whether the donations influenced Dr Kohl's policies during his 16 years in power.
Dr Kohl, who faces a separate, criminal investigation into his handling of the illegal funds, denied that he had been bribed and claimed that the investigation was a politically-motivated act of revenge against him.
"This has been an unprecedented attempt to defame me through inaccurate reports, insinuations and twisting of the facts to criminalise me and cast the 16 good and successful years we had in a dark light," he said.
It emerged this week that, during the month between Dr Kohl's election defeat in September 1998 and his handover of power to Mr Gerhard Schroder's centreleft government, two-thirds of the computer files in the chancellor's office were deleted.
Among the lost files, which amounted to the equivalent of 1.2 million pages, was information about the controversial sale of 36 tanks to Saudi Arabia in 1991 and the purchase by the French oil firm Elf Aquitaine of an eastern German refinery a year later.
Dr Kohl said yesterday that he had approved the sale of tanks to Saudi Arabia because Germany's NATO allies had criticised his government's refusal to send troops to fight against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.
He said that the main reason for selling the Leuna oil refinery to Elf was that there were no other potential buyers and he condemned reports that the late French president, Francois Mitterrand, arranged bribes in connection with the sale. "I never received money at any time and have no knowledge whatsoever of dubious financial transactions regarding Elf," he said.
Dr Kohl played down his weekly meetings with CDU members of the inquiry, insisting that they were entitled to talk to anyone they chose. But a Green member of the panel, Mr Hans Christian Strobele, said he would attempt to call some of the CDU members as witnesses and, if necessary, force them to resign.
