German defence minister under fire

Rudolf Scharping is accused of misusing military jets to further his love life

BERLIN, Germany -- Germany's beleaguered defence minister is facing parliamentary questions over further claims about his love life.

Rudolf Scharping came under fire last month over accusations he had used military planes to visit his girlfriend in Frankfurt and on the Spanish resort island of Majorca.

A special hearing of the German parliament's defence committee, called by the opposition Christian Democrats, is looking at claims he used the jets on at least 20 occasions over the last year, mainly to see his fiancee, Countess Kristina Pilati von Thassul zu Daxberg-Borgreve.

As he walked into the closed-door hearing on Monday morning, Scharping refused to make any comment to the waiting journalists.

He has insisted that he has not broken any rules and can prove that his use of the military jets was in order. He has accused the opposition of conducting a witchhunt against him and described the allegations as slanderous.

"With the use of government planes I am as cautious and restrained as possible," he told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The opposition is also planning to quiz him about his disclosure at a recent news conference of the confidential route German troops were to take into Macedonia. Following the disclosure, the route had to be changed.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is standing by his Social Democratic minister, saying he is confident he will withstand the parliamentary grilling. However, if Scharping fails to convince the inquiry, he will face increasing pressure to resign.

The defence minister was forced to apologise at the weekend for allowing the publication of photos of him and his girlfriend splashing about in a pool and kissing while on holiday in Majorca as German troops prepared for the Macedonia mission.

He told Welt am Sonntag newspaper: "Yes, it's obvious to me that I made mistakes. The mistake was to allow photographs to be taken of myself acting naturally."

Scharping is separated from his wife and seeking a divorce.

The scandal is the latest to hit Schroeder's government -- the chancellor has already lost seven ministers since taking office in 1998 -- at least three of them to scandals.