German probe into second spy suspect shakes Berlin's US ties By Andrew McCathie, dpa
09.07.2014Berlin (dpa) - Police raided several premises in Berlin Wednesday after Germany‘s chief prosecutor confirmed that an investigation had been launched into a new suspected spy scandal, which once again threatens to badly shake relations between Berlin and Washington.
There is the question how such "profound disagreement" in matters of security and civil liberties can be reconciled, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular government briefing in Berlin.
...
No arrests have so far been made.
German officials have not confirmed that the suspect, who worked for the German Ministry of Defence, was acting on behalf of the US and declined to comment in detail of the latest saying it was now under investigation by prosecutors.
But dpa and other German media understand that man was spying for the US.
The Defence Ministry declined to say whether he was a soldier or a civil employee in the department.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s office also confirmed Tuesday that US Central Intelligence chief John Brennan had telephoned Berlin‘s security service coordinator Klaus-Peter Fritsche to discuss the spy scandal.
...
Last week, the prosecutor‘s office said it had launched an investigation into an employee of Germany‘s domestic intelligence service BND, who is reported to have worked as a double agent.
The BND employee was alleged to have handed more than 200 pieces of sensitive information to the US secret service, believed to be the CIA, for about 25,000 euros (34,000 dollars).
At his request, US ambassador John B Emerson held discussions again with German Foreign Ministry officials on Wednesday.
This was the second such meeting in less than a week.
The German foreign office however said the talks had been held in confidence and declined to comment on their content.
The latest allegations about German agents follow a stream of reports, sourced to former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden, about US spying in Germany.
This included revelations last year that the National Security Agency (NSA) had tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s mobile phone, which the prosecutor‘s office is also investigating.
FULL - Europe Online
---------------------------------------------------
Second spy found! Oops.
Notice how 'civil liberties' are mentioned?
Here we go, they're going to clamp down on everything in the name of security?
No comments:
Post a Comment