Since the first reports of spying last year, it has been widely suspected in Germany that the NSA had bugged governments preceding Merkel's. But the report by Sueddeutsche daily on Wednesday, which it sourced to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, was the first concrete report that offers evidence.
Sueddeutsche also cited US government sources and NSA insiders as saying the reason for the snooping on Social Democrat (SPD) Schroeder was his opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq under then President George W. Bush.