Germany's Foreign Intelligence Agency in the Spotlight

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is attending the German secret service's 50th anniversary celebrations at the German Historical Museum in Berlin on Thursday. The party will be overshadowed, however, by the first working meeting of an 11-member parliamentary commission investigating allegations that German spies in Baghdad aided the US in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Merkel has said the foreign intelligence agency -- BND -- did relay information to the Americans, but stressed that the agency did not help guide US bombers to their targets.

Among other questions, the inquiry will try to assess whether the US Central Intelligence Agency used Germany as a hub for secret flights carrying terror suspects between countries. The committee will also look into whether the German government was aware of secret CIA prisons in Europe.

Leaders are to decide next week on whether or not the BND will move its headquarters from Pullach, near Munich, to Berlin. The proposal is controversial as the move is estimated to cost between 1.4 million and 1.7 million euros ($1.8 - $2.3 million).