Iraq inquiry set to trouble German FM

BERLIN, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A parliamentary inquiry into Germany's true role in the Iraq war is set to embarrass Germany's foreign minister.

Lawmakers overseeing German intelligence issues on Thursday were due to question two German spies who worked in Baghdad shortly before and during the start of the U.S.-led Iraq war.

The findings could prove embarrassing for Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, who during the Iraq war headed the chancellor's office and has claimed that Germany has not been directly involved in the Iraq war.

Steinmeier's boss at the time, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, won re-election on the premise of not taking part in the controversial military campaign.

The questioning intends to find out whether revelations by German newsmagazine Stern are true and how much Berlin knew about them; the magazine claims the German spies in Baghdad relayed concrete target information, including coordinates of buildings housing Iraqi soldiers that later were bombed, to colleagues at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. Stern cited German-U.S. intelligence correspondence.

"We will have to clear up what Mr. Steinmeier knew about all this, how the chancellor's office organized control of the (German spies) in this delicate matter, and in the end, we will evaluate how deeply Mr. Steinmeier is responsible," Max Stadler, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Free Democrats and a member of the inquiry commission, told German news channel n-tv Thursday.

Steinmeier as the head of the chancellery oversaw intelligence matters, and observers say it is unlikely that he didn't know of the agents' activities in Iraq. It's bad timing for Steinmeier, who has just been nominated to be his party's candidate for chancellor in next year's elections. The latest revelations won't make it easier to beat Chancellor Angela Merkel.