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| German domestic spy chief removed, set to take up Interior Ministry post amid migrant row | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Hans-Georg Maassen has been removed as the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency and will become a senior official in the interior ministry. That's after he questioned videos of far-right violence in Chemnitz. | |
| Maassen, who has been the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) since 2012, will take up the position of state secretary in the Interior Ministry. | |
| The move is being seen as a compromise between the Social Democrats, who had demanded Maassen's removal, and conservative Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. | |
| The announcement comes after Maassen cast doubt on the authenticity of a video showing far-right protesters chasing migrants after the fatal stabbing of a German man by migrants in the city of Chemnitz. | |
| It comes just one day after Die Welt reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel found Maassen's position to be interfering with the policies of the cabinet. | |
| READ MORE: Merkel to sack counter-spy chief amid right-wing violence scandal – reports | |
| The video that Maassen doubted, came after a 35-year-old German man was fatally stabbed in a brawl with migrants in Chemnitz in August. Two men, a Syrian and an Iraqi, were arrested. The Iraqi was released on Tuesday, while the Syrian remains in custody. | |
| The stabbing in Chemnitz triggered a wave of far-right and right-wing rallies across Germany, leading to clashes between police and protesters, as well as arrests and injuries. | |
| Germany continues to be divided on the country's migration policy, with anti-immigrant sentiment growing since the 2015 refugee crisis which saw the country take in more than one million mainly Muslim asylum seekers. | |
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