Newsmaker

Former German FM to donate kidney to his wife

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-23 17:12

File picture shows Frank-Walter Steinmeier, former German Foreign Minister and current head of Social Democrats SPD faction in Bundestag, as he receives a kiss from his wife Elke Buedenbender during a one-day party congress of Germany's Social Democratic party SPD in Berlin October 18, 2008. [Agencies]

BERLIN -- Germany's main opposition leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier says he will take a few weeks off politics so he can donate a kidney to his wife.

Steinmeier told reporters Monday he would take a few weeks off for the procedure and come back to politics in October, news agency DAPD reported.

Steinmeier was foreign minister from 2005 to 2009. He is now the leader of the opposition for the left-leaning Social Democrats.

Steinmeier's wife Elke Buedenbender is a judge at an administrative court in Berlin. The couple has a 14-year-old daughter.