Report: Germans Helped US Find bin Laden

The German spy agency BND helped the United States locate Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday.

The information on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound was provided by a BND informant inside Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, according to Britain's Telegraph.

The German newspaper said that the BND's Bad Aibling listening post in Bavaria was used to monitor telephone and email communications in northern Pakistan to make sure the planned raid by U.S. Navy SEALs remained secret.

The report says the United States eventually found bin Laden by tracking one of his couriers, which backs up White House claims last week that Pakistan was not involved in the raid.

Journalist Seymour Hersh had reported from an anonymous source that the Pakistani government was actually a part of the mission to kill bin Laden. Both Pakistan and the United States have long denied that.

The report of BND involvement is positive public relations for the agency, which has been under fire in Germany for cooperating with the U.S. National Security Agency to spy on political and business groups, including the French government, the European Commission and Airbus Group.

Related Stories:

• Seymour Hersh: I'm Not Backing Off on bin Laden Exposé
• NSA Braces for News Leak of Its Cyber Surveillance Work