Moellemann had urged the German government to recognize Islam as an official religion

By Khaled Schmitt, IOL Germany Correspondent 

BERLIN, June 6 (IslamOnline.net) – Friends of Germany’s former deputy chancellor Juergen Moellemann, who died Thursday, June 5, in a parachute jump, refuted media reports he committed suicide to escape state prosecution over his pro-Arabs and Muslims and anti-Israel stances.

They asserted he intended to set up a new party and called on Arab and Muslim communities to join up.

One of the prominent German politician’s close associates added there was nothing that could have possibly pushed him to commit suicide.

A former advertising executive and a vigorous self- promoter, Moellemann has enjoyed a high morale at recent days, he said.

The same argument was supported by an eyewitness who told the NTV news channel the deceased handled his parachute easily and calmly before his skydiving, excluding any possible suicide attempt.

"Moellemann went into freefall and apparently did not manage to open the reserve parachute," said state prosecutor Wolfgang Reinicke, who is investigating the death.

No suicide note had been found and police were trying to determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal fall in a barley field near the western town of Marl, he added.

His parachute opened normally, but on the way down it separated from his harness "for reasons that are entirely unclear," Reinicke told a news conference.

He then fell away from the chute at under 3,200 feet and the reserve parachute did not open, an experienced parachutist who saw the fatal jump was quoted as saying.

Reinicke put three possibilities for the death of Moellemann, a former economy minister and deputy chancellor from 1991 to 1993 when the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was junior partner in a coalition with the conservatives under Helmut Kohl.

"We are of course investigating all possibilities. The range of possibilities in such a case is very large. You can put them in three categories — an accident, a suicide or sabotage, for instance manipulation of the parachute by another person."

Vicious Campaign

Moellemann recently came under a ferocious campaign from the FDP and media outlets for his anti-Israeli remarks and his sympathy with Arab causes.

A lawmaker and leader of the German-Arab Friendship Society, he was a combative maverick known for his pro-Arab positions.

Moellemann had complained of being victim of a witch hunt after his war of words with leading Jewish members of the party and his criticism of Michael Friedman, deputy head of Germany’s Jewish community and Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon.

Although he gained the largest number of votes in the last free elections, the prominent politician was ostracized from the FDP in March allegedly because his popularity slump on his anti-Israel stance.

On Thursday, prosecutors searched Moellemann’s home, office in Muenster, western Germany, over charges of violating elections laws by receiving Arab donations to finance a leaflet criticizing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories during his election campaign.

The leaflet dubbed Israel an "occupation state" and reaffirmed support for Palestinian resistance attacks against Israeli targets.

Moellemann had stressed he would do the same should any country occupy Germany, accusing Sharon of practicing state terrorism against armless Palestinians.

He was the first German official in the 1970s to establish strong relations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and its chairman Yasser Arafat.

Moellemann is also known for his close ties with other Arab leaders.

In 2001, he exhorted the German government to recognize Islam as an official religion and support the Supreme Council for Muslims and the Islamic Council, the largest Islamic organizations in Germany, with 40,000  million marks a year.