Protestors hold posters reading 'Stasi 2.0' depicting US President Barack Obama wearing headphones, in allusion of a film poster of the movie 'The Lives of Others' talking about spying and monitoring practices of the former Eastern German secret police 'Stasi', on June 18, 2013 in Berlin, where Obama was expected for a visit from June 18 to 19, 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 17, 2013 she was surprised by revelations of mass US online surveillance and that she would call for 'transparency' on its scope in talks with President Barack Obama this week. Merkel said Germans wanted to know if their online data was being sniffed out by the US National Security Agency (NSA).
New U.S. spying allegations anger Germany
02:25 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

German prosecutors arrested a German citizen on allegations of spying for a foreign country

Its foreign office asked the U.S. ambassador to help them quickly solve the case

The suspect stole government documents and sold them to U.S. agents, according to reports

CNN  — 

German prosecutors ordered the arrest this week of a German citizen on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence agencies.

A day later, on Friday, the German foreign office called in the U.S. ambassador to discuss it.

Foreign Secretary Stephan Steinlein “requested the U.S. ambassador participate in a rapid solving” of the spying case, Germany’s foreign office said in a statement.

Both the German prosecutor and the foreign office released scarce information, but officials have spoken in detail with German journalists, who published many reports on the allegations of renewed U.S. spying on the country.

The reports re-inflamed public anger at the U.S. government.

The suspect, a German intelligence employee, allegedly stole government documents, according to German media reports.

These included papers taken from the German parliament’s special committee to address the National Security Agency spying. The employee allegedly sold them to U.S. intelligence representatives for thousands of dollars, according to multiple reports.

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