German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping, under fire for alleged misuse of official flights to visit his girlfriend, fought back against the charges Monday before a parliamentary committee probing the affair.
Scharping, 53, told reporters before the special session of the parliamentary defense committee convened that he would provide "complete transparency" by documenting the purpose of each of the 350 flights he had taken since becoming minister in 1998.
Facing a gauntlet of television cameras, he again vehemently denied charges that he misused the government's military fleet to shuttle back and forth between Berlin and Frankfurt to spend time with his companion, countess Kristina Pilati, 51.
Scharping left his wife of 30 years, Jutta, last year for Pilati.
The minister said before entering the closed hearing that he had always taken commercial flights when possible and said that he had paid for use of military planes when a trip was of a personal nature.
He added he had no plans to resign over the affair, and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came to his defense again on Monday -- BERLIN (AFP)
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