US denies President Obama knew about spying on German Chancellor Merkel
The US made the statement after a German newspaper reported that President Obama had known about the surveillance of Mrs. Merkel since 2010.
On October 27, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that General Keith Alexander, head of the US National Security Agency (NSA), briefed President Obama on the surveillance of the German Chancellor in 2010.
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| US President Obama (left) talks with German Chancellor Merkel during a meeting in Berlin on June 19, 2013 (Photo: AFP) |
The newspaper quoted a senior NSA official: “Mr. Obama did not stop the surveillance activities but allowed them to continue to happen.”
The weekly news outlet Der Spiegel reported that leaked NSA documents showed that Ms. Merkel's phone had been on a special surveillance target list for more than a decade and was still being monitored weeks before Mr. Obama visited Berlin last June.
However, NSA spokesman Vanee' Vines flatly denied the claims the same day.
“General Alexander did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 the alleged foreign intelligence activity involving German Chancellor Merkel, and Obama never discussed the alleged activity involving Merkel,” Vines said.
The allegations stem from documents released by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, which have sparked global outrage over claims that the US spy agency has been snooping on the communications of dozens of world leaders.
A poll by Der Spiegel newspaper showed that 60% of Germans believe the scandal has damaged bilateral relations between the two countries.
In a conversation with the German Chancellor on October 23, Ms. Merkel said that such surveillance was a “breach of trust” while President Obama is said to have told the German Chancellor that he knew nothing about this activity.
Germany is sending intelligence chiefs to Washington next week to push for an investigation into espionage allegations.
Der Spiegel, based on leaked documents, said that a US eavesdropping unit was located at the US Embassy in Berlin and US intelligence has 80 high-tech surveillance offices in major cities around the world such as Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Geneva and Frankfurt./.
According to VOV
