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German Interior Minister to Replace Outgoing Defense Minister

   VOA News  March 02, 2011
   German  Defense  Minister  Karl-Theodor  zu Guttenberg speaks during a
   news conference where he announced his resignation in Berlin, Germany,
   over allegations he plagiarized his doctoral thesis, March 1, 2011

Photo: AP

   German  Defense  Minister  Karl-Theodor  zu Guttenberg speaks during a
   news conference where he announced his resignation in Berlin, Germany,
   over allegations he plagiarized his doctoral thesis, March 1, 2011

   German  government  sources  say  Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere
   will   replace   newly-resigned   Defense   Minister  Karl-Theodor  zu
   Guttenberg.
   The  news  Wednesday  comes just one day after Guttenberg stepped down
   amid allegations he plagiarized parts of his doctoral thesis.
   Officials  with  the  Christian  Social  Union  party  say leading CSU
   lawmaker  Hans-Peter  Friedrich will be the new interior minister. The
   party  is  the  Bavarian-based  sister  to  Chancellor Angela Merkel's
   conservative Christian Democratic Union.
   The  scandal  involving  Guttenberg's 475-page doctoral thesis erupted
   after  a German newspaper reported that chunks of the work were copied
   from  other  scholars without properly crediting them. The allegations
   earned the minister the nickname of "Baron Cut-and-Paste."
   The  University of Bayreuth withdrew Guttenberg's doctoral degree last
   week, and opposition lawmakers pushed for him to step down.
   The  popular  minister  has acknowledged making errors in his writing,
   but insisted he did not deliberately cheat.
   Guttenberg called his resignation "the most painful step" of his life,
   but  said  the  controversy  had  made  it impossible to carry out his
   duties.
   Merkel had supported Guttenberg.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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