"Government sources in Germany confirmed that, starting in the 1970s, its state intelligence agency funneled money to its political parties -- to be used in support of 'pro-German' political factions in Spain and Portugal." German Agency May Be Source of Cash By BURT HERMAN .c The Associated Press BERLIN (AP) - A possible source for the secret funds stashed away by the scandal-ridden Christian Democratic party emerged Tuesday: the German intelligence agency. Government and security sources on Tuesday confirmed a report in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that the country's intelligence agency funneled money to Germany's main political parties starting in the 1970s so that they would spend it supporting developing democracies in Spain and Portugal. According to the newspaper, between $15 million and $20 million was paid in cash from the Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany's intelligence agency known as the BND, to the parties between 1974 and 1982 during the government of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, a Social Democrat. The donations came at a time of political turmoil on the Iberian peninsula, with dictatorships ending in both Spain and Portugal in the mid-1970s. Because the payments were made in cash, there were no controls on how the money was actually used. The newspaper speculated that could mean some of the money wound up in the secret campaign war chests that are the subject of the Christian Democrats' current scandal. Manfred Schueler, who was Schmidt's chief of staff, told the Sueddeutsche that he could not be sure the money didn't end up in the parties' coffers. The Christian Democrats' scandal erupted in December after former Chancellor Helmut Kohl admitted receiving $1 million from donors he has refused to name. Party officials have since disclosed that $6 million from undetermined sources have been discovered so far in party accounts. In addition, more than $10 million have also turned up in secret accounts held by the Hesse state party branch. The money from the BND reportedly was split roughly according to each party's representation in parliament at the time. The Social Democrats and Christian Democrats each got $6 million each, while the smaller Free Democrat party got a lesser unspecified share, the newspaper reported. The Sueddeutsche said that the Christian Democrats deposited their BND money in Luxembourg and Switzerland, suggesting that the money eventually was transferred into party accounts used to finance campaigns. So far, only the Hesse branch has admitted setting up foreign accounts for the undeclared campaign funds. But former longtime party tax adviser Horst Weyrauch told ZDF television on Tuesday that some of the national party's secret accounts were also kept in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The chairman of the Christian Democrats received weak support on Tuesday after he admitted that a second meeting was listed in his appointment calendar with a German-Canadian businessman who gave secret donations to the party. Wolfgang Schaeuble had previously stated that he met only once with Karlheinz Schreiber. Schaeuble has said he will stand for re-election to the party's top post at an April convention, and has so far only received support from low-ranking conservatives. The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in an editorial Tuesday, wrote harshly of the doubts raised about Schaeuble's credibility after the newly disclosed appointment with Schreiber. ``The time is beginning to run out for the interim chairmanship of Schaeuble,'' the newspaper said.
