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Spying spikes US-Germany relations

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Fri, 3 Jul 2015, 5:47AM
Fort Meade, NSA headquarters (Getty Images)
Fort Meade, NSA headquarters (Getty Images)

Spying spikes US-Germany relations

Author
AAP,
Publish Date
Fri, 3 Jul 2015, 5:47AM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office has asked the US ambassador to come in to discuss new allegations of spying by the National Security Agency (NSA), which threatened to drive a new wedge through transatlantic ties.

"We confirm that US ambassador (John) Emerson was invited to the chancellery to talk," a German government source told AFP, after the Frankfurter Allgemeine daily said Merkel's chief of staff Peter Altmaier had asked for Thursday's meeting.

German media reported on Wednesday that new documents released by WikiLeaks appear to show the US did not just tap Merkel's mobile phone but also eavesdropped on ministers.

German-US relations were badly strained after fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed widespread US foreign surveillance, although a probe into the alleged tapping of Merkel's mobile phone was dropped last month over a lack of proof.

The federal prosecutor's office said on Thursday it was considering reopening an investigation into US National Security Agency (NSA) activities in Germany in light of the new evidence.

According to the latest Wikileaks documents, the NSA did not limit its snooping activities to Merkel, and showed particular interest in the activities of the ministries of finance, economy and agriculture, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote.

It said whistleblowing website WikiLeaks had shown it a list of 69 phone numbers that were reportedly targeted, belonging to ministers and senior officials. The list appears to date back to between 2010 and 2012.

While Snowden alleged US spying on many European governments, his disclosures triggered particular anger in Germany where bitterness lingers over mass state spying on citizens by the Stasi secret police in former communist East Germany where Merkel grew up.

Merkel herself phoned US President Barack Obama over the 2013 revelations and in public told the US that "spying between friends just isn't on".

Washington appeared to confirm her mobile phone had been tapped when US officials said it would not be a target in the future.

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