BERLIN, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl lost a legal effort Thursday to prevent the release of records compiled about him by the East German secret police.
The London Telegraph said thousands of pages of potentially "explosive" documents are involved.
A Berlin court ruled that as a public figure, Kohl's files should be made accessible to researchers. Lawyers for Kohl, who did not appear in court, said they would appeal.
The former East German spy agency Stasi tapped Kohl's telephone calls from the early 1980s until the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.
The files are likely to contain much information about Kohl's relations with Margaret Thatcher, French leader Franois Mitterrand and then Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Telegraph said papers might also throw light on Kohl's private affairs, including his relationship with his wife Hannelore, who committed suicide two years ago.
