FILE PHOTO 29JUL98 - Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl laughs as he holds up a cabbage decorated with the colours of the German flag, after an election campaign speech in this 29 July 1998 file photo. Kohl, resigned as honourary chairman of his christian Democratic Union January 18, after the party issued him an ultimatum to clear up financial scandal or quit. Kohl, said in a statement that it was a hard decision but that he was in no position to meet the party's demand that he name donors from whom he accepted illegal secret funds.

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