An expected thaw in relations between the US and Germany following the election of Barack Obama faces an unexpected obstacle after an Iraq war deserter asked for asylum in Germany.

André Shepherd, a US Army specialist who had been living underground in southern Germany since going absent without leave 1½ years ago, filed his application last week, he told the Financial Times in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location. “I’ve done enough research to come to the conclusion that what is happening in Iraq is not the equivalent of World War II but outright massacre,” Mr Shepherd said. “We are not the freedom fighters we think we are.”