Germany's Kohl Cuts Deal

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl would pay a $140,000 fine — and escape criminal prosecution — under a deal recommended by prosecutors to close a criminal inquiry into his role in a party financing scandal.

Prosecutors in Bonn, the former West German capital where Kohl governed for 16 years, have examined possible breach of trust charges since January 2000, after Kohl admitted accepting illegal campaign donations while serving as chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Party.

Kohl's attorney, Stephan Holthoff-Pfoertner, said in a statement that Kohl would accept the prosecutor's offer, which the legal team sought for months, "to prevent a long judicial process that would enormously burden him and his family."

If approved by a Bonn court, the deal would be a victory for Kohl's efforts to rehabilitate his reputation by ending the criminal investigation.

A ruling was expected soon, the North-Rhine Westphalia state justice ministry said in a statement.

The former chancellor remains under parliamentary investigation, and probes by state prosecutors into the campaign finance scandal still could stain Kohl's legacy as the statesman who reunited Germany in 1990.

Once the case is closed, Kohl, 70, no longer has the right to refuse testimony in the separate inquiry by lawmakers into allegations that he sold government favors during his years in power from 1982 to 1998.

Kohl has cited the criminal investigation in refusing to answer some questions during three appearances before the parliamentary committee, though he has steadfastly denied selling favors.

But his willingness to pay the fine was tantamount to an admission of guilt, said Hans-Christian Stroebele, a prominent lawmaker of Germany's liberal Greens party.

To stymie the breach of trust charge, Kohl has privately raised millions to pay back fines that parliament imposed on his party for anonymous donations he says he accepted in the 1990s. Last year he collected around eight million marks, some 700,000 marks of that out of his own pocket.

Accepting anonymous party donations is illegal in Germany, but Kohl opted to raise the money rather than reveal the names of the donors whom he says he promised confidentiality.

Kohl's November 1999 admission that he accepted some $1 million in undeclared contributions touched off a party scandal that has grown to include illegal bookkeeping, secret accounts abroad and off-the-books cash payments.

Kohl's refusal to identify the source of the funds has led to speculation that there are actually no donors, but that the money stemmed from bribes or money laundering — charges Kohl denies.

Hearing of the impending deal, Kohl's opponents said it was an admission of wrongdoing and demanded he now reveal the names of donors whose identity he has jealously guarded.

The affair returned to the spotlight only days ago when German authorities held a key suspect in a French corruption trial seen as able to shed further light on the payments.

Alfred Sirven, accused of running slush funds at former state-owned French oil giant Elf, was detained in transit at Frankfurt Saturday but refused to answer questions before being extradited to France Tuesday to face trial there.

German authorities are curious to learn what Sirven knows of $37 million in commission paid during its purchase of east Germany's Leuna refinery from Kohl's government in 1992. The CSU denies some of the cash ended up in secret party accounts.

The Kohl scandal brought the conservative Christian Democrats to the verge of break-up. In opposition since current Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his Social Democratic Party ousted Kohl in 1998 after 16 years of rule, they are still dogged by the aftermath of the affair.

Despite the damage to his legacy, Kohl is still recognized by most Germans as the man who ended the country's Cold War division after the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall.

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