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Germany's Defense Minister, Dr. Peter Struck, will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a two day visit. Struck will be the official guest of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Struck will be accompanied by the chairman of the Bundestag's Defense Committee Reinhold Robbe, the Defense Ministry's head of the Policy and Advisory Staff, Franz Borkenhagen, Bundestag members and other German defense officials. The visit will be Struck's first in Israel since he his appointment as defense minister in July 2002. The visit is supposed to strengthen relations between the German and Israeli defense establishments. While in Israel the German defense minister...

German Defense Minister Peter Struck has said peacekeeper will have to remain in Kosovo much longer than previously expected after recent clashes between Serbs and Albanians in the region. In an interview with German tabloid Bild am Sonntag, Struck described the situation as extremely unstable and warned both sides to attack Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops. "They should know that NATO and the German military will defend themselves with all possible means," Struck said. "NATO will win this conflict with its military might." Struck (photo) said he didn't expect NATO troops to leave the province by the original departure date of...

Nov. 4, 2003 German general dismissed for praising anti-Semitism By ASSOCIATED PRESS BERLIN Germany's defense minister on Tuesday dismissed the head of the country's elite special forces after the general praised a conservative lawmaker under investigation for alleged anti-Semitic remarks. Brig. Gen. Reinhard Guenzel, the commander of Germany's special forces since 2000 and a 40-year veteran of the armed forces, was fired after writing a letter to lawmaker Martin Hohmann, praising his "courage" for a speech that drew criticism from across the political spectrum and legal action from Jewish leaders. "It was an excellent speech, of a courage, truth and...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Defense Minister Peter Struck criticized a senior aide on Monday for saying the United States was behaving like a "dictator" over Iraq, but said he would not punish the official for his remarks. Junior minister Walter Kolbow was widely reported at the weekend to have said unilateral U.S. decisions on Iraq looked like the actions of a dictator, remarks unlikely to help already strained relations between Washington and Berlin. "The minister said Kolbow's formulation of a dictatorship based on unilateral decisions was exaggerated and inappropriate but does not see any need for consequences," a defense ministry...

BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Peter Struck said on Thursday he could not imagine Germany voting in favour of a war against Iraq at the United Nations Security Council, where it currently holds a seat. "A final decision can only be taken when it is clear what the vote concerns, but a yes is no longer conceivable," Struck told a German newspaper. His statement, the clearest clue so far by a German cabinet minister to how Germany would act in any new U.N. vote, was confirmed by a defence ministry spokesman. Germany began a two-year term on...

German Defense Minister, Peter Struck meets his American counterpart on Friday in a further attempt to mend poisoned U.S.-German relations. After being snubbed by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a NATO meeting in September, German defense minister Peter Struck flew to America on Friday to meet with his American counterpart. Hot on the heels of German Foreign Minister Joscka Fischer, who met last week with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, the meeting is being billed as a further attempt by Germany to mend its strained relations with the United States. Fischer maintained last week that despite current problems...