Awwal 14, 1432 H/Feb 17, 2011, SPA -- German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg plagiarized more texts than initially thought in his doctoral thesis, including a passage from a US embassy website, media reported Thursday, according to dpa. Guttenberg, a rising star in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, apparently incorporated into his PhD thesis several passages of texts previously published online, according to Spiegel Online. This reportedly included a paragraph in Guttenberg's text which was almost identical to a passage on the German US embassy website, but lacked citation. Spiegel claimed that the minister's thesis contained many incidences of plagiarism than the eight made public on Wednesday, including uncited use of material from a German EU parliamentarian and from a speech by law professor Gerhard Casper, former president of Stanford University. In both cases the references lacked the necessary citation, Spiegel wrote. Political scientist Barbara Zehnpfennig, whose 1997 article in daily Frankfurter Allgemeine bears close resemblance to the introduction to Guttenberg's PhD thesis, demanded consequences for the minister. "This must lead to the revocation of his doctor's degree," Zehnpfenning told daily Die Welt. Guttenberg, 39, fiercely denied the allegations on Wednesday. Yet they continued to dominate news headlines Thursday, threatening the reputation of the smooth aristocrat who is frequently cited as the country's most popular politician. Guttenberg was far from the media storm on Thursday, on a visit to German troops in Afghanistan - his ninth such trip to the region.
