German MP under fire

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

A German government minister faced criticism on June 8 after a carpet he bought during an official visit to Afghanistan was flown home at the state’s expense without paying customs duty.

Development Minister Dirk Niebel’s ministry has admitted that the carpet, reportedly measuring nine square meters and weighing 30 kilos, was transported free of charge by the German foreign intelligence service. The ministry said the transportation on May 20 from Kabul to Berlin on the jet of the chief of the secret service was done as “a personal favor.”