German President Horst Koehler says he is resigning immediately, following criticism of remarks he made about German military deployments abroad.

因德国军队海外部署的评论而遭批判的德国总统霍斯特·科勒宣布立即辞职。

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Mr Koehler previously headed the International Monetary Fund

Mr Koehler, whose job is largely ceremonial, had linked missions such as the Afghanistan deployment² with the defence of economic interests（经济利益） .

His remarks drew criticism from a number of German politicians.

Mr Koehler, 67, was re-elected last year to serve a second five-year term as president.

He made the controversial remarks in a radio interview after a brief visit to Afghanistan earlier this month.

He said that for an export-orientated country like Germany, it was sometimes necessary to deploy¹ troops "to protect our interests... for example free trade routes".

Announcing his resignation on Monday, he said "it was an honour for me to serve Germany as president".

Unpopular deployment

With his wife standing⁵ next to him, he said he regretted that his comments could lead to a misunderstanding about a difficult question for the nation.

Jens Boehrnsen, speaker of the parliament's upper house (Bundesrat), will be interim⁶（临时的，过渡的） president. He is in the opposition⁷ Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The BBC's Oana Lungescu in Berlin says Mr Koehler's remarks about military missions led to accusations⁸ of gunboat diplomacy⁹（炮舰外交） and embarrassment¹⁰ for Chancellor¹¹ Angela Merkel's government. It has come under strong popular pressure to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Mr Koehler's shock decision could hardly have come at a worst time, our correspondent says. Polls show that the government's approval rating has plummeted¹²（垂直落下） to a four-year low, mainly due to its management of the eurozone crisis.