Merkel’s chief of staff requests meeting after WikiLeaks publishes what it says is evidence of NSA eavesdropping on ministers

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Angela Merkel’s chief of staff has summoned the US ambassador to a meeting over allegations that the National Security Agency spied on German ministers.

The meeting between Peter Altmaier and ambassador John Emerson follows claims that NSA agents spied not only on Merkel but on other members of her government.

WikiLeaks said 69 telephone numbers of government ministries, including the economy and finance ministries, had been found in secret NSA files.

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Germany’s attorney general, Harald Range, said he would investigate the allegations and decide whether to prosecute the NSA, according to Spiegel Online.

Three weeks ago Range dropped an investigation into reports that Merkel’s own phone had been targeted by the NSA, citing a lack of evidence.

Patrick Sensburg, the Christian Democrat chair of a parliamentary committee investigating the NSA allegations, told German television that it was important to find out whether the spying was still ongoin.

“We also have to assume that other countries are involved in similar activities,” he said.

Sigmar Gabriel, the deputy chancellor and economy minister, said he remained relaxed about the claims. “You have a rather ironic relationship towards all this,” he said. “We don’t do anything in the ministries on the telephone that would be worth bugging.”

He said it was far more pressing to find out whether the NSA had spied on German businesses. “My ministry is responsible for protecting companies from economic espionage, and that I find the more problematic topic,” he said.