German govt ousts intelligence chief to defuse far-right row

BERLIN - The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency lost his job on Tuesday after his remarks downplaying anti-migrant violence became a battleground between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative critics.

The ouster of Hans-Georg Maassen is the latest political aftershock resulting from the influx of more than 1 million refugees into Germany since 2015, which has boosted right-wing populism in the country and beyond.

Critics have long questioned whether Maassen, who took charge of the BfV spy agency in 2012, was still suitable for the post over his handling of the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack and his contacts with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, also known as the AfD.