German foreign minister denies helping US fight Iraq war

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iZ5DCNdhrTnVpPUr5INyH10rbEDg

7 hours ago

BERLIN (AFP) — German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his predecessor Joschka Fischer Thursday denied that German spies helped the United States military when it invaded Iraq in 2003.

It's "ludicrous,", Steinmeier told a parliamentary committee investigating press reports suggesting that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany's foreign intelligence service, assisted the United States in its war effort.

"Trying to make out that this was participation in war is utterly absurd," Steinmeier added.

"As far as I know it's complete rubbish," Fischer, for his part, said earlier before the committee.

Fischer was foreign minister at the time, while Steinmeier was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who angered Washington by opposing the US-led invasion.