Germany asks Britain for explanation of spying report

Google – AFP, Kate Millar (AFP), 5 November 2013

A woman passes the British embassy in Berlin on November 5, 2013 (AFP, 

John Macdougall)

Berlin — Germany said Tuesday it had asked to speak to Britain's ambassador following a media report that London has been operating a secret listening post from its embassy in Berlin.

"At the instigation of Foreign Minister (Guido) Westerwelle, the British ambassador was asked to come for a meeting at the Federal Foreign Office," a foreign ministry statement said.

It added that the ministry's head of European affairs had "asked for an explanation of current reports in British media and indicated that tapping communications from a diplomatic mission would constitute a violation of international law".

The request, which was not a summons but is unusual between European Union partners, was prompted by a report in the Independent newspaper Tuesday of a spy post not far from Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in Berlin.

Almost two weeks ago, Germany summoned the US ambassador -- a stronger diplomatic step -- over evidence that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had tapped Merkel's mobile phone, a revelation which frayed German-US ties.

The Independent report said Britain's electronic eavesdropping centre GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) appeared to be using high-tech equipment on the embassy roof to intercept German data.

The broadsheet cited aerial photographs and information about past spying activities in Germany, as well as documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who has fled to Moscow.

An eavesdropping post on the roof of the US embassy in Berlin is believed to have been shut down last week as Washington scrambled to limit damage from the row, the Independent reported.

William Gatward, press spokesman for the British embassy, confirmed the talks had taken place. "The ambassador did attend the meeting at the foreign ministry this afternoon," he told AFP, without giving further details.

Merkel rolled out the red carpet for British Prime Minister David Cameron in April, inviting not only him but his family to stay overnight at the German government's 18th century guest house, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Berlin.

Cameron alarmed fellow EU leaders in January when he set out plans to wrest back powers from Brussels, and to then put Britain's reshaped membership to an in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

Merkel has repeatedly underscored that she views Britain as a crucial member of the EU that must be encouraged to maintain its engagement in the bloc.

Her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters at the time that contacts with Cameron were "extremely intensive".

"For us, Britain is an important and indispensable partner in Europe," he said.

The Independent said Snowden's documents suggested GCHQ has worked with US agencies and other partners to operate a network of electronic spying posts from embassies around the world, intercepting data in host nations.

A spokeswoman for Cameron's office said: "We don't comment on intelligence matters."

The British daily printed photos showing an aerial view of the British and US embassies -- which are on the same block next to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin -- highlighting large white boxes that it said were the intercept "nests".

Thermal images of the US embassy provided by the German public broadcaster ARD allegedly show a significant reduction in activity between October 24 and October 25, when claims first emerged that Merkel's phone had been tapped.

ARD broadcast the images on October 27, saying that the top floor of the embassy possibly houses a listening "nest".

Meanwhile US Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Poland, urged European leaders not to allow the spying row to disrupt talks with the European Union to create the world's largest free trade zone.

And Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper published Brazilian intelligence documents indicating Brazil spied on French secret service agents in 2003 over suspicions of sabotage at its Alcantara space base where an explosion had killed 21 people.

Brazil has strongly denounced US surveillance of its leaders.

The mysterious boxes highlighted on top of the US embassies in Stockholm,
Moscow, Berlin and Beijing. (Internet photo)

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