NSA tapped former German chancellor’s phone, report says

The National Security Agency tapped the phone of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder from at least 2002, according to a new report. 

The German newspaper Sueddeutsche reported Wednesday that U.S. and NSA officials said the U.S. spied on the leader in the early 2000s because he opposed the U.S. invasion into Iraq. 

“We had reason to believe that (Schroeder) was not contributing to the success of the alliance,” the newspaper quoted one person familiar with the tapping as saying, according to Reuters.

Schroeder told Sueddeutsche he’s not surprised the NSA monitored his communications. 

“At that time I would not have entertained the idea of being monitored; now I am no longer surprised,” he said.

{mosads}Schroeder served as Germany’s chancellor from 1998 until late 2005. 

The new revelations come just days after Secretary of State John Kerry vowed to renew America’s relationship with Germany this year. 

At a joint news conference in Munich, Kerry told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the two countries could overcome “bumps in the road.”

Those bumps amounted to reports from October that revealed the United States had monitored Merkel’s phone. The information was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. 

President Obama immediately reassured Merkel that the U.S. was not at the time and would not spy on her phone calls. The White House did not indicate whether the NSA had done so previously. 

Merkel seemed to welcome Kerry’s call to strengthen ties between their two countries again. 

Germany and the U.S. “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” on the Syria and Iran issues, Merkel said at the news conference.