German President resigns

Merkel postponed a trip to Rome where she was to hold talks with Italian PM Mario Monti and made a brief statement after Wulff spoke,saying she regretted his departure. The situation changed dramatically for Wulff Thursday evening when state prosecutors in Hannover asked parliament to end his legal immunity over accusations he accepted favours in a prelude to opening a probe into him.

The slow-burning affair kicked off in mid-December,when it emerged that Wulff had received a large private loan from a wealthy businessman friends wife in his previous job as state governor. That was followed in January by intense criticism over a furious call he made to the editor of Germanys biggest-selling newspaper before it reported on the loan.

It is the first time ever that prosecutors have wanted to investigate a German president and the move triggered direct calls from opposition parties for the 52-year old Wulff to go. He is the second president to step down within two years. His predecessor,former International Monetary Fund chief Horst Koehler,resigned unexpectedly in 2010 after coming under fire for comments he made about the German mission in Afghanistan.