Juergen Moellemann had a passion for parachute jumps

Police said Juergen Moellemann, an experienced skydiver, died at an airfield near the town of Marl in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Eyewitnesses are quoted as saying that his parachute opened normally, but that he took it off.

A state prosecutor would only say that Mr Moellemann became separated from the parachute in mid-air.

Like all the others, he had activated all the parachute's safety systems, in line with the instructions Eyewitness

Mr Moellemann, 57, had jumped with nine friends from a small plane, police said. The others landed safely.

Witnesses quoted in the German media said they believed the politician had committed suicide.

Shortly before, investigators began searching Mr Moellemann's home in Muenster and more than 20 other addresses in Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Spain.

Mr Moellemann, the former deputy leader of Germany's centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP), was being investigated over allegations that he broke laws on party funding, fraud and breach of trust.

He resigned from the party in March after being accused of anti-Semitism in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections.

Parachute 'broke free'

Mr Moellemann jumped out of the plane at 4,000 metres (13,200 feet).

This is not the time for political differences but for sympathy FDP leader Guido Westerwelle

One witness, who jumped from a plane at the same time as the politician, said all the group's parachutes had opened normally.

Mr Moellemann was "easily recognisable by the big letters JWM on his blue and yellow parachute," he said.

Then suddenly the chute broke free from Mr Moellemann's body, said the witness, himself an experienced skydiver.

"He must have detached it. At that stage in the descent that's all that could happen. There is no other possibility."

Mr Moellemann's spare chute then failed to open, and an automatic safety system, which would open it even if the parachutist had lost consciousness, did not activate it, the witness said.

"He must have switched it off," the witness added.

'Time for sympathy'

FDP leader Guido Westerwelle expressed "deep sadness" at Mr Moellemann's death.

"This is not the time for political differences but for sympathy," he said.

Mr Moellemann was elected to parliament in 1972 and served as education minister and later economics minister under former Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

He stepped down as a minister in 1993 after a scandal in which he admitted promoting a product made by a relative's company.

Mr Moellemann had a passion for skydiving and often arrived by parachute at party rallies.

He was married with three daughters.

Last year, Mr Moellemann became notorious for making allegedly anti-Semitic remarks.

He also issued a leaflet shortly before national elections in which he criticised German Jewish leader Michael Friedman and Israeli leader Ariel Sharon.

He resigned from the parliamentary group of the FDP in February, and from the party itself the following month.

He remained an independent member of parliament.