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German Accused of Passing Secrets, and Fingers Point at U.S. German Accused of Passing Secrets, and Fingers Point at U.S.
(35 minutes later)
BERLIN — The authorities in Germany have arrested a 31-year-old German man on suspicion of spying for a foreign power, in a case that may further strain already testy relations between Germany and the United States over intelligence issues. BERLIN — In the latest turn in the yearlong tensions with Germany over American spying, a 31-year-old German man was arrested this week on suspicion of passing secret documents to a foreign power that appeared to be the United States, and the American ambassador was called in to the Foreign Office here and urged to help with what German officials called a “swift clarification” of the case.
An official statement from the German federal prosecutor’s office about the arrest did not identify the foreign country involved, but German news media reported, quoting government sources, that the man had confessed to passing information to the United States. The arrest came just as Washington and Berlin were trying to put to rest a year of strains over the National Security Agency’s monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, and just months after an effort by Germany to strike a “no spy” accord with the White House collapsed.
The American ambassador to Germany, John B. Emerson, was summoned on Friday by the Foreign Ministry in Berlin “in connection with an investigation by the federal prosecutor,” according to a ministry statement. It said the ambassador was asked “to help in the swift clarification” of the case. While the White House and American intelligence officials refused to comment on the arrest, one senior American official said that the reports in the German news media that the man under arrest had been working for the United States for at least two years “threaten to undo all the repair work” the two sides have been trying to achieve.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was informed of the arrest on Thursday, according to her spokesman, Steffen Seibert. He said the chancellor spoke to President Obama by phone late on Thursday, but he would not say whether the spying case came up during the call. A brief White House statement about the conversation made no mention of the matter, and a White House spokeswoman, Caitlin Hayden, declined to comment on it. The details of the latest case were murky. The news media reports suggested that the man, a midlevel employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, was originally arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia. The Kremlin has markedly stepped up recruitment of German informants since the uprisings in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions aimed at Russia’s economy.
The daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung said that the suspect was an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, which routinely deals with foreign intelligence matters. The paper said the man was at first suspected of spying for Russia, which German intelligence officials say has markedly stepped up recruitment of German informants. But according to the news reports and the account of one American official, the man told his interrogators he had been working for the United States for some time.
Citing unidentified government officials, the newspaper and the two public broadcasters that team up with it on investigative projects said the arrested man had told the authorities he was approached several times by American agents and passed information to them on at least one occasion. German news reports said that his work included reporting on the investigations into the N.S.A.'s activities in Germany, which are the subject of a Parliamentary investigation, but the senior American official said he had no knowledge if that was the case.
Relations between Washington and Berlin have been tense since last summer, when a news weekly, Der Spiegel, reported that the National Security Agency was monitoring the electronic data of millions of Germans. The magazine cited some of the documents from the trove of the former security contractor Edward J. Snowden. German news media outlets have continued to dribble out related revelations in recent months. The Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency both declined to comment on the allegations.
When it emerged last October that Ms. Merkel’s cellphone had been tapped by the N.S.A., a furor erupted. Since then the German government has been under pressure to secure a new agreement with the United States that would curb or at least regulate American intelligence activity in Germany, where the history of Nazi and Communist regimes makes people particularly sensitive about any state snooping on citizens. Ms. Merkel was informed of the case on Thursday, her spokesman said, just before she spoke to President Obama by phone. But the White House described that conversation as one that was primarily about Ukraine and the continuing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Neither German nor American officials would say on the record whether the subject of the arrest came up during the call.
If the man had been spying for the United States for two years, as the German news media reports say, his recruitment would have predated the disclosures by Edward J. Snowden, the N.S.A. contractor, of the long-running tapping of Ms. Merkel’s cellphone. That would absolve American intelligence agencies of charges of acting in bad faith as the nations’ tried to mend relations.
After the Snowden disclosures, Mr. Obama ordered a complete review of spying on allies and partners. In an interview last week, the new director of the N.S.A., Adm. Michael S. Rogers, said that review had resulted in the termination of a number of spying operations, not because they were illegal, but because they were unwise.
But in conversations with German officials over the past year, the Obama administration has made clear that its commitment extends only to Ms. Merkel herself, and that Washington would not exempt other German officials. That was one of many sources of tension as the two countries, which traditionally share intelligence on terrorism suspects and nuclear proliferation, struggled and failed to reach a new accord.
The German Parliament is conducting an inquiry into the N.S.A.'s activities in the country, and it heard its first testimony on Thursday from two Americans who formerly worked for the agency. That testimony came hours after a 27-year-old student in Bavaria was identified by name as one of the spy agency’s surveillance targets, the first German other than Ms. Merkel to be named in that way.The German Parliament is conducting an inquiry into the N.S.A.'s activities in the country, and it heard its first testimony on Thursday from two Americans who formerly worked for the agency. That testimony came hours after a 27-year-old student in Bavaria was identified by name as one of the spy agency’s surveillance targets, the first German other than Ms. Merkel to be named in that way.
The testimony on Thursday lasted late into the evening, delayed in part by an extraordinary meeting between the inquiry panel and the control commission that oversees Germany’s intelligence services. The lawmakers were apparently informed of the arrest of the accused spy at that meeting; attendees at such sessions are sworn to secrecy.The testimony on Thursday lasted late into the evening, delayed in part by an extraordinary meeting between the inquiry panel and the control commission that oversees Germany’s intelligence services. The lawmakers were apparently informed of the arrest of the accused spy at that meeting; attendees at such sessions are sworn to secrecy.
Part of the hearing was conducted in closed session after one of the American witnesses, William E. Binney, said he would be discussing important secret information with the panel.Part of the hearing was conducted in closed session after one of the American witnesses, William E. Binney, said he would be discussing important secret information with the panel.
There was no immediate confirmation from the German government or the prosecutor’s office concerning the reports that the arrested man had been spying for the United States. A statement from the general prosecutor said he was detained on Wednesday by officers from the federal criminal office, the most senior police authority in Germany. It did not give details about his occupation.There was no immediate confirmation from the German government or the prosecutor’s office concerning the reports that the arrested man had been spying for the United States. A statement from the general prosecutor said he was detained on Wednesday by officers from the federal criminal office, the most senior police authority in Germany. It did not give details about his occupation.
On Thursday, the suspect appeared before a federal court in Karlsruhe, where the federal prosecutor’s office is located, and was ordered held “on urgent suspicion” of unauthorized intelligence activities, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.On Thursday, the suspect appeared before a federal court in Karlsruhe, where the federal prosecutor’s office is located, and was ordered held “on urgent suspicion” of unauthorized intelligence activities, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Hans-Christian Ströbele, a member of Parliament from the Green Party who sits on both the intelligence oversight body and the N.S.A. inquiry panel, said he had “no reason to deny” the published reports he had seen on Friday about the spy case. But he and the head of the inquiry panel, Patrick Sensburg of the Christian Democratic party, each counseled caution. Hans-Christian Ströbele, a member of Parliament from the Green Party who sits on both the intelligence oversight body and the N.S.A. inquiry panel, said he had “no reason to deny” the published reports he had seen on Friday about the spy case. But he and the head of the inquiry panel, Patrick Sensburg of the Christian Democratic Party, each counseled caution.
Mr. Sensburg said by telephone that “some reports are simply false.” And Mr. Ströbele, a veteran lawmaker who traveled to Moscow last fall to meet with Mr. Snowden, said on Friday, “We must have patience and see whether information stands up to scrutiny.”Mr. Sensburg said by telephone that “some reports are simply false.” And Mr. Ströbele, a veteran lawmaker who traveled to Moscow last fall to meet with Mr. Snowden, said on Friday, “We must have patience and see whether information stands up to scrutiny.”
“It would be good to have a very quick reaction from across the Atlantic,” he added, though he noted that on the Fourth of July, Americans “have every reason to do something else.”“It would be good to have a very quick reaction from across the Atlantic,” he added, though he noted that on the Fourth of July, Americans “have every reason to do something else.”