Germany admits its spies helped US in Iraq war
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-24 09:04

The German government released a report on Thursday that said two German spies provided the United States with intelligence on Iraq but rejected allegations it aided the US bombing campaign during the 2003 invasion.

Smoke rises over the Iraqi capital Baghdad following bombing raids by U.S.-led forces, March 22, 2003. The German government released a report on Thursday that said two German spies provided the United States with intelligence on Iraq but rejected allegations it aided the U.S. bombing campaign during the 2003 invasion. [Reuters]

The 90-page text is part of a larger report given to a parliamentary oversight committee that has been investigating reports that Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency helped the United States select sites to bomb during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, despite official opposition to the war.

The report says former BND president August Hanning decided on March 17, 2003 -- three days before the US-led invasion began -- that two BND agents would remain in Iraq despite the evacuation of the entire German diplomatic corps from Baghdad.

Given their precarious situation in Baghdad, the two agents depended on the invading U.S. authorities for their safety and ability to gather intelligence, the report said.

"In view of the possible need for evacuation or decontamination measures the (BND agents) would be dependent on the willingness of US authorities to cooperate," it said.

The report acknowledges the BND agents provided the United States with intelligence but said this was mostly limited to reports about items such as "civilian protected or other humanitarian sites, such as Synagogues and Torah rolls and the possible locations of missing US pilots."

The agents also provided US agents with descriptions of "the character of military and police presence in the city."

The German agents provided US officials with "descriptions in isolated cases of Iraqi military forces along with geographic coordinates." It said these were provided only after the agents were convinced the Americans had the information.

Responding to media reports that the agents had given the United States coordinates that could be used for bombing, the report said the BND provided "no support for the strategic air offensive" in Iraq.

Opposition politicians have rejected the government's view that the report exonerates the BND and the administration of former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

They are demanding a full parliamentary investigation that would require current and former government officials to testify under oath.