(Hamburg) Germans are gripped by a scandal playing out at Hamburg city hall. Sunday Hamburg mayor Ole von Beust (pictured) revealed more details of what he calls `blackmail` by his former interior minister.

Last week von Beust fired Ronald Schill, a right-wing German provincial politician, for alleging the mayor is gay. Hamburg is a city-state in the German federation. The government is a coalition between von Beust`s Christian Democratic Party, and several smaller parties, including Schill`s right wing group known simply as the Schill Party.

Schill, a hardliner, was dubbed "Judge Merciless" for handing down stiff sentences while a Hamburg judge. Differences between the two men had been growing over the past few months.

Last week, Schill went to the mayor demanding more power. In an interview Sunday with the news magazine Der Spiegel, von Beust said Schill threatened to go to the media to say that the mayor was having an affair with Justice Minister Roger Kusch.

"I`m going to make public that you don`t always adhere to high standards of not separating private and political matters," alleges Schill told him.

Von Beust told Schill he didn`t understand what he meant.

"You gave your boyfriend and long-time intimate partner Kusch the job as justice minister," Schill said, according to von Beust. Von Beust replied that was false and told Schill to leave his office.

"Think about it long and hard - tonight, prime time, nationwide," von Beust quoted Schill saying before he left.

Von Beust said he was not involved in a sexual relationship with Kusch, but would not answer questions about his own sexuality.

"Everyone has a right to privacy," von Beust told the magazine.

"I never had intimate relations with Mr Kusch. I don`t want to let the insinuations from Schill force me to talk about my sexuality. The electorate has no right to know anything about the sexual preference of their elected leaders."

The scandal in Germany`s second city echoes one in Berlin two years ago when mayor Klaus Wowereit outed himself just before a newspaper was to publish a story announcing he was gay.

by 365Gay.com, News centre Staff, ©365Gay.com® 2003