January 20, 2000
Web posted at: 9:13 a.m. EST (1413 GMT)

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany's opposition Christian Democrats, hit by a party funding scandal surrounding former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, said on Thursday a senior party finance official had died, apparently by suicide.

Joachim Hoerster, CDU chief whip, confirmed in a brief statement to reporters that Wolfgang Huellen, 49, had been found dead at his home on Thursday. He said Huellen had left a suicide note citing personal reasons for taking his life.

"According to the information we have so far, the motives for the suicide were of a personal nature," Hoerster said. He added that no further statements would be made pending police investigations.

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Parliamentary proceedings were suspended following Huellen's death to allow the CDU parliamentary faction to hold an emergency meeting chaired by party leader Wolfgang Schaeuble.

In an earlier debate on the financial scandal, Schaeuble apologized on behalf of the CDU for breaches of party financing laws and for misleading the house last month over a cash donation he had accepted from a wanted arms dealer.

Huellen was the chief of the parliamentary party's budget department, but was not a member of the legislature.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved.

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