Two German spies are to testify over allegations that they delivered targeting information for US air strikes on Baghdad, despite Germany opposing the war in Iraq.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2798071/German-spies-helped-US-Baghdad-bombing.html
Last Updated: 1:35PM BST 11 Sep 2008
The covert activities could derail the Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier's attempts to defeat Angela Merkel at the next general election.
At the outset of the US-led war against Saddam Hussein, Mr Steinmeier was chief of staff to the then chancellor Gerhard Schroder and was responsible for co-ordinating the work of Germany's intelligence services.
Mr Schroder narrowly won the 2002 election with a pledge that his country would take no part in the impending war in Iraq.
According to leaked documents published by Stern magazine the spies' testimonies could prove embarrassing to the Social Democrat Party.
It appears that Mr Schroder and Mr Steinmeier may have struck a secret deal with the US to provide intelligence which would aid the "shock and awe" bombardment of Iraq and clear the way for the coalition invasion.
Stern said: "The agents, Lieutenant-Colonel Rainer Mahner and Chief Superintendent Volker Heinster, are the physical embodiment of the lie perpetrated by the then Chancellor Gerhard Schroder which he used to win the September 2002 general election.
"The lie of: No to the Iraq war."
It is claimed that just weeks after the election the head of the German intelligence service received approval from the chancellor's office to deploy a team of agents in Baghdad.
It is alleged that German intelligence liaised with the CIA after gaining Mr Steinmeier's approval and according to a leaked security service memo, dated November 28 2002, it was agreed that German agents would report to the US command in Qatar.
They advised on satellite photography, a national newspaper reported.
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