Germany’s top security official is adding to pressure for an American response to a case in which a German intelligence employee is reported to have spied for the US.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was quoted Sunday as telling Bild newspaper, “I expect everyone now to assist quickly in clearing up the accusations and quick and clear statements, from the USA too.”
Germany’s Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador Friday over the matter. The prosecutors say a 31-year-old German was arrested last week suspected of spying for foreign intelligence services. German newspapers, without naming sources, say he was an intelligence agency employee who sold documents to the US.
The issue threatens to sour relations again after last year’s reports that the National Security Agency spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone.