German domestic spy chief removed from office, moved to Interior Ministry - government

Merkel partners call for removal of German spy chief


BERLIN (AP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's junior coalition partners demanded the removal of Germany's domestic intelligence chief on Thursday following much-criticized comments about recent far-right protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

Hans-Georg Maassen's future as the head of the BfV intelligence agency has created new strains in Merkel's six-month-old coalition. The center-left Social Democrats, the junior governing party, called for him to go after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told parliament Maassen still has his confidence.

Merkel, Seehofer and Social Democrat leader Andrea Nahles met at the chancellery Thursday afternoon to discuss the spat, which comes only 2½ months after a crisis over migration policy that briefly threatened the coalition. News agency dpa, citing unidentified government sources, said they agreed to talk about the issue again on Tuesday.

The killing late last month of a German man, for which an Iraqi and a Syrian have been arrested, prompted days of anti-migrant protests in Chemnitz that at times turned violent.

In comments to the mass-circulation Bild daily last week, Maassen questioned the authenticity of a video showing protesters chasing down and attacking a foreigner. He also said his agency had no reliable evidence that foreigners were "hunted" in the streets - a term Merkel had used.

Maassen told Seehofer, his immediate boss, about his doubts before going public but didn't inform the chancellery. Although they are conservative allies, Seehofer and Merkel have sparred on and off about migrant policy for three years. A dispute between the pair in June briefly threatened to bring down the government.

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he is now more powerful, important and more ackward than ever ;)

and merkhell will hate it

LOL