BND | The journalist Peter Scholl-Latour worked for the secret service

For decades, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) used journalists as sources – sometimes even paid for them – and in doing so violated its own regulations. The extent of this cooperation became known in 2006 through the so-called Schäfer Report, which was presented following a parliamentary investigation by the former federal judge of the same name.

Now WDR is reporting on another spectacular case: The BND (Federal Intelligence Service) used the once well-known journalist and foreign correspondent Peter Scholl-Latour as a so-called casual source for years. This is revealed by approximately 70 pages of material from the archives of the German foreign intelligence service, which the broadcaster has analyzed.

A BND spokeswoman told WDR that Scholl-Latour was never recruited as a "regular source" for the agency and had not received a "continuous assignment to gather information." Nevertheless, according to the report, cooperation was extensive: Scholl-Latour reported on his travels several times in the 1980s, provided background information on interviewees, and made film and photo material from crisis areas available to the agency prior to its publication.

In 1986, the journalist, now editor of Stern, was also visited by a BND employee from the GDR intelligence department. Scholl-Latour was asked to identify a person from the GDR who was working for the International Red Cross in Africa. He was also said to have agreed to meet with a BND source during a trip to Lebanon.

The BND reportedly compiled initial notes on Scholl-Latour as early as the early 1960s. These stated that he held French citizenship and may have worked for the French intelligence service. From 1980 onward, the files revealed concrete contacts with the German intelligence service. The German intelligence agency used the code name "Scholar" for him, reports WDR.

After a trip with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in 1981, exchanges with the BND intensified, and meetings with employees are said to have taken place, among other places, in his apartment. Not all of the resulting conversation notes have been released: the BND withholds certain pages, citing confidentiality periods and the public interest.

The WDR report does not clarify whether Scholl-Latour received anything in return for his cooperation with the BND – according to the agency, he was not paid. However, it is conceivable that he leaked exclusive and secret information, as is often done these days to investigative departments of major media companies. However, no direct influence on his journalistic work can be deduced from the available files.

Peter Scholl-Latour, who had also served as program director of WDR television before his documented cooperation with the BND in the 1970s, died in August 2014 at the age of 90. ZDF, for which he temporarily worked as an intelligence informant during his time, stated upon inquiry that it had no knowledge of the events and adhered to its journalistic guidelines and the press code. This code stipulates that intelligence activities are incompatible with the professional profile of journalists.