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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/world/europe/german-arrested-on-suspicion-of-passing-secrets.html
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| German Arrested on Suspicion of Passing Secrets | German Arrested on Suspicion of Passing Secrets |
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| BERLIN — A 31-year-old German man was arrested this week on suspicion of spying for a foreign power, and Chancellor Angela Merkel was informed on Thursday, her spokesman said. An official statement from the federal prosecutor’s office did not identify the country involved, but German media, quoting government sources, said that the man had confessed to passing information to the United States. | BERLIN — A 31-year-old German man was arrested this week on suspicion of spying for a foreign power, and Chancellor Angela Merkel was informed on Thursday, her spokesman said. An official statement from the federal prosecutor’s office did not identify the country involved, but German media, quoting government sources, said that the man had confessed to passing information to the United States. |
| Ms. Merkel talked to President Obama by phone late on Thursday, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said. Mr. Seibert would not say if the spying case was mentioned during the call. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said that the German man, an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, which routinely deals with foreign intelligence matters, was originally arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, which German intelligence officials say has markedly stepped up recruitment of German informants in recent months. | Ms. Merkel talked to President Obama by phone late on Thursday, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said. Mr. Seibert would not say if the spying case was mentioned during the call. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said that the German man, an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, which routinely deals with foreign intelligence matters, was originally arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, which German intelligence officials say has markedly stepped up recruitment of German informants in recent months. |
| Citing unidentified government sources, the newspaper — and two public broadcasters with which it forms an investigative reporting unit — said the arrested man had then admitted that he had been approached several times by United States agents, and had passed information on at least one occasion. | Citing unidentified government sources, the newspaper — and two public broadcasters with which it forms an investigative reporting unit — said the arrested man had then admitted that he had been approached several times by United States agents, and had passed information on at least one occasion. |
| There was no immediate confirmation from other government sources or from the prosecutor’s office about those claims. A statement from the general prosecutor said the man was detained on Wednesday by officers from the Federal Criminal Office, the most senior police authority in Germany. | |
| On Thursday, the man appeared before a federal court in Karlsruhe, where the federal prosecutor’s office is, and was ordered held “on urgent suspicion” of unauthorized intelligence activities, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. | |
| Word of the arrest came just a day after two Americans who once worked for the National Security Agency testified to a German parliamentary inquiry about the monitoring of electronic data by the United States. | Word of the arrest came just a day after two Americans who once worked for the National Security Agency testified to a German parliamentary inquiry about the monitoring of electronic data by the United States. |
| Earlier Thursday, a 27-year-old student became the first German after Ms. Merkel to be identified as a target for American eavesdropping. Last October, relations between Washington and Berlin suffered a severe jolt when it became clear that a cellphone Ms. Merkel used had been monitored. |