US ambassador summoned to German Foreign Ministry over spy scandal
5 July, 10:27 -- US ambassador to Germany John Emerson has been summoned to the German Foreign Ministry following the detention of a German foreign intelligence (BND) officer on suspicion of spying for the United States, the ministry says in a statement on its website.
'Ambassador Emerson has been summoned by Foreign Ministry State Secretary Stephan Steinlein as part of a pre-trial investigation launched by the Federal Prosecutor's Office,' it says.
STeinlein asked Emerson to contribute to the speedy clarification of the issue.
On Friday, German mass media reported the detention of a mid-level 31-year-old BND officer who confessed to passing over to the US National Security Agency (NSB) secret digital data about the work of a special commission probing the NSA activities in Germany.
There have no official comment from the German government, although Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had been informed about the case.
Foreign intelligence agent arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for NSA
Employee of German Federal Intelligence Service, who was performing foreign intelligence, was detained on suspicion of spying for the National Security Agency. According to German media reports, 31-year-old agent was arrested on July 2. Germany's Federal Prosecutor confirmed to reporters that the country's intelligence service officer was arrested in connection with 'serious suspicion' of spying for the NSA.
According to Deutsche Welle, during interrogation, the suspect said that he collected information of the ad hoc committee of the Bundestag for the Investigation of NSA activities in Germany. The official representative of the federal prosecutor declined to give details of the investigation.
Representative of the German Chancellor Stefan Seibert confirmed that Angela Merkel and members of the Intelligence Committee have been notified. Office of the Chancellor intends to wait for completion of the investigation before taking any action which, according to Seibert, will be "very serious" in case the received information will be confirmed. For now, it is unknown whether this situation has been discussed during a telephone conversation between Angela Merkel and Barack Obama last night.
June 3 former NSA technical director William Binnie spoke before the German parliament. Organization in which he has worked for over 30 years, Binnie called 'totalitarian machine of data collection.'
According to Binney, when he worked for the NSA, their connections with the Federal Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence Germany were very strong. About the wiretapping scandal with a mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel Binnie said that the surveillance was carried it out in order to 'gain a better understanding of the thoughts and concerns' of Merkel. The findings also could be used as instrument of pressure against Germany in the relations between the two countries - said Binnie, reports RT.
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