- FILE PHOTO TAKEN 25FEB02 - Designated new German defence minister Peter Struck is seen in this file photograph of February 25, 2002 in Berlin. [German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who called an SPD emergency board meeting said July 18, 2002 he had dismissed German defence minister Rudolf Scharping who had come under fire over suspect income two month before the general elections. Schroeder told a news conference in Berlin he would ask President Johannes Rau to relieve Scharping of his duties and replace him with Peter Struck, parliamentary floor leader of the SPD.]