German prosecutors said in August that a criminal investigation had been launched against 17 journalists from a number of leading national publications, including the Hamburg-based newsmagazine Der Spiegel, the Munich-based daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Hamburg-based weekly Die Zeit, and the Berlin-based daily Die Welt. The journalists were accused of publishing information from classified documents related to CIA rendition flights and suspected misconduct by German secret service agents in Baghdad during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. A parliamentary committee assembled to examine the alleged misconduct had apparently leaked the documents to the press, according to international press reports. Investigations against the 17 journalists were led by local prosecutors in Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin. By September, the Munich prosecutor's office had dropped its investigation against journalists with the local Süddeutsche Zeitung, but Berlin and Hamburg prosecutors did not immediately follow suit.

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