CDU scandal witnesses set for clash

Mr Kohl was forced to resign as honorary CDU chairman

By Rob Broomby in Berlin

Two key players in Germany's Christian Democrat Party (CDU) slush-fund scandal have been recalled to give further evidence before the special investigation committee into the affair.

The former CDU party leader, Wolfgang Schaeuble, and the former party treasurer, Brigitte Baumeister, gave conflicting accounts of the handling of a donation of a DM100,000 ($50,000) from an arms dealer at the centre of the scandal in 1994.

Ms Baumeister says she is prepared to face the committee

Mr Schaeuble's admission that he received the money and allegations that he had misled parliament about the event forced his resignation as party leader earlier this year.

The scandal took off after former Chancellor Helmut Kohl admitted receiving $1m dollars in secret donations which were never been properly accounted for.

Changing hands

Monday's committee hearing has been billed as a face-to-face confrontation between Mr Schaeuble and Ms Baumeister.

Mr Schaeuble says he received the money in September 1994 and gave it to the treasurer to record in the party's accounts.

But she says she gave an envelope containing the money from Karlheinz Schreiber to Dr Schaeuble.

What happened to the alleged donation is unclear but, what is certain is it was not entered properly in the accounts, in breach of party financing rules.

The governing Social Democrats say one of the witnesses is not telling the truth.

The CDU has begun to distance itself from its former treasurer.

Secret accounts

A senior party official said there was no reason not to believe Dr Schaeuble.

The inquiry wants to know whether political decisions under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, were influenced by secret party donations.

Dr Schaeuble is also expected to face questioning over the latest press allegations that Chancellor Kohl's secret accounts contain 10 times the amount of money so far admitted, and that they existed for the duration of his office - allegations denied by the former chancellor.

Dr Kohl has consistently refused to name the secret party donors.

The expected confrontation on Monday has been dismissed as a spectacle by CDU representatives on the committee.