Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl is seen during a meeting of the Christian Democratic Union in Bonn in this September 28, 1998 file picture. Kohl, ostracized by the party he led for a quarter century since triggering a financial scandal in fall 1999, intends to get back into the political fray starting Monday September 11, 2000, by rejoining his parliamentary faction's strategy sessions, a spokesman said Thursday Sept. 7, 2000. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper)