Merkel has decided German spy chief must go - report

Reuters

17 September 2018 at 3:50 am

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a session at the lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Hans-Georg Maassen, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution arrives for a meeting of the parliamentary committee that oversees German intelligence agencies, in Berlin, Germany, September 12, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided that Germany's domestic intelligence agency chief must go because she thinks he has meddled in day-to-day politics, newspaper Die Welt cited coalition sources as saying.

Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the BfV domestic intelligence agency, has come under fire after he cast doubt on the authenticity of video footage showing far-right protesters chasing migrants after the fatal stabbing of a German man.

Merkel's junior coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), want conservative Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to fire Maassen over his remarks, but he has so far refused to do so. The coalition partners are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss Maassen's future.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Paul Carrel)

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