to inform the German public in October 1993 about the death of Sgt. Alexander Arndt, a 26-year-old army medic; Arndt had become the first German soldier to die on duty in an area of tension since World War II after he was shot by an unknown assailant in Cambodia. Under Rühe's leadership, Germany began destroying stockpiles of tanks and other heavy weapons in August 1992, becoming the first country to implement the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. After failing narrowly to stop the Eurofighter Typhoon project when he took office in 1992, Rühe negotiated down the number of aircraft the air force ordered, as well as the cost of each. In 1993, he canceled plans to buy Lapas, a $1 billion American-designed high-altitude reconnaissance system, after it was revealed that the system's German subcontractor was at the center of a political scandal about reported bribery of Bavarian Minister-President Max Streibl. In 1997, Rühe suspended a lieutenant general and instituted disciplinary action against a colonel after it was revealed that Manfred Roeder, a neo-Nazi with a criminal record of bombings, had been invited to give a speech to the country's most prestigious military academy in 1995. Later political career Between 1998 and 2000, Rühe served as the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. By 2000, Rühe was considered a potential opponent of Angela Merkel for the CDU leadership; however, he eventually dropped out of the race. In 2004, Rühe from the opposition was named by the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to lead Germany's campaign for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. That same year, Schröder sent Rühe to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the Orange Revolution. Between 2014 and 2015, he headed a crossparty committee to review the country's parliamentary rules on military deployments. Other activities Corporate roles Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Senior Advisor Hamburg-Mannheimer Versicherungs-AG, Member of the Advisory Board Non-profit organizations International Crisis Group, Member of the Board European Leadership Network (ELN), Member of the Advisory Board, Member of the Task Force on Cooperation in Greater Europe Atlantik-Brücke Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees German Civil Service Federation, Member Political positions Domestic policy Domestically, Rühe was an outspoken advocate of tighter immigration laws. In 2000, as part of the search for a new chair of the CDU, Rühe led an effort to stop frontrunner Angela Merkel that included