Rarely has a denial been as categorical as the one delivered by official Berlin. The Monday article by the New York Times, reporting that German intelligence officials stationed in Baghdad during the US invasion of Iraq had provided the Americans with a diagram of Iraqi defense plans for the city,  is simply untrue,  government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm says.

"We had two people in Baghdad who hurried, lickety-split, into Iraq; they arrived in February 2003 and spoke English and French, but no Arabic. How are they supposed to have procured such a report?" one German intelligence spokesman told the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Monday. The report was allegedly handed over to the US in February 2003.

The New York Times, already sensitive about its Iraq reporting after having to back away from pre-war stories asserting the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the country, stands by its story. On Monday evening, the paper published an editor's response  to the German government's denials. The story, written by Michael Gordon, is based on a classified study undertaken by the Joint Forces Command in 2005. The editor's response quoted the study in more detail and made it clear that at least three German agents were implicated. Gordon obtained the study as part of his research for a book he is writing on the Iraq invasion which will be published in March.

German media on Tuesday seem skeptical of the government denials in Berlin. Indeed a number of commentators proved susceptible to conspiracy theories making the rounds. Why, many seem to be asking, is this information coming out now? In December, the Washington Post released information that German intelligence provided the US with targeting information in Baghdad -- charges that were dealt with last week in a special meeting of the parliamentary intelligence oversight committee. The theory seems to be that the United States is getting back at Germany for its opposition to the Iraq invasion -- and that this most recent leak could be in response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's demand that the Guantanamo prison be closed. 

But conspiracies aside, the Times report, if true, could present major credibility difficulties for both the former government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the current government under Merkel. Schröder was one of the most outspoken critics of the war on Iraq. Many are of the opinion that, if German intelligence agents provided the American military with strategic information, it would indicate a high degree of hypocrisy. Germany did allow US troops overfly rights and access to their German bases during the Iraq invasion, but consistently refused any active support.

Even the new government under Merkel, which took office in November 2005, would be vulnerable if the Times revelations are proven. The government is a coalition formed by Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and Schröder's Social Democrats, and Merkel's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was Schröder's chief of staff. He was also responsible for coordinating with Germany's intelligence services. Should the Times report prove correct, Steinmeier could become the first political victim.