The US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder for his criticism of the Iraq war, according to media report.
Schroder's phone was tapped since 2002 because of his critical attitude towards US preparations for the war, German media quoted a government officials and NSA insiders as saying.
It said the NSA spying involved not only the detection of connection data, but also written and spoken communications, Xinhua reported Wednesday.
The former chancellor, who led Germany from 1998 to 2005, parted with the US' views in 2002 by stating that Germany would not provide troops or money for the Iraq war.
Schroder told reporters that he was not surprised by the news. "At the time I wouldn't have thought US security services were listening me, but it doesn't surprise me now," he said.
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