• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

US army deserter requests political asylum in Germany

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, Nov 27, IRNA
Germany-US-Military
An American soldier who deserted the US army 18 months ago to prevent a second deployment in Iraq has requested political asylum in Germany, the online site of the US military daily Stars and Stripes reported Thursday.

Handing his asylum petition Wednesday to a German federal office in charge of migration and refugee affairs in the southern city of Giessen, US army specialist Andre L. Shepherd alleged he was forced to fight an illegal war in Iraq.

In the asylum request, the first of its kind since the Vietnam War according to Shepherd's German lawyer Reinhard Marx, the deserter said he did not want to take part in a war that violates international law, citing Article 2.4 of the UN charter.

It also invoked the likelihood of him being accused of "war crimes which he did not want to be a party to."
Shepherd who had worked as an Apache helicopter mechanic at a US military base in the south German town of Katterbach has been AWOL from his unit since April 2007.

Germany hosts dozens of US army and air Force installations, from which tens of thousands of troops funnel through on their way to Afghanistan or Iraq every year.

OT**1412