Germany brings charges against Frankfurt Airport shooter

Germany has brought charges against the man accused of murdering two US servicemen en route to Afghanistan in broad daylight at Frankfurt Airport in March. Prosecutors declined to charged him with terrorism.

German authorities have indicted a man accused of shooting two US airmen at Frankfurt International Airport in March. Arid U., who is of Kosovar background, was accused of killing US servicemen Nicholas Alden and Zachary Cuddeback.

The 21-year old was also charged with three counts of attempted murder, for trying to kill three others before his gun jammed.

He faces life imprisonment. 

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Germany sends more troops to Afghanistan

HEIDELBERG, Germany — The German parliament voted Friday (24th March) to send 300 additional soldiers to Afghanistan to man AWACS surveillance planes, and by doing so, free up other NATO crews to help the mission over Libya.

The vote was 407-113 with 32 abstentions. The decision is a compromise of sorts; Germany declined to join the mission to impose a no-fly zone over Libya as authorized by U.N. Resolution 1973.

Germany’s lack of participation in Operation Odyssey Dawn has evoked a mix of condemnation and approval.

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Merkel faces questions over airstrike in Afghanistan

Afghanistan 10.2.2001

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier are due to answer questions on a military airstrike that killed dozens of civilians in Afghanistan in September 2009.

For over a year a parliamentary inquiry has been investigating the events surrounding the German-ordered airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan which killed more than 100 people and injured 11 in September 2009. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to face the inquiry's questioning.

All soldiers and politicians who participated in the decisions surrounding the deadly strike - including current Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg - have been questioned for hours, and slowly an overall picture of events is being rebuilt.

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