Germany Ready to Charge UK, US Intelligence over NSA Surveillance

Local Editor

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's office declared it was preparing to bring charges against British and US intelligence on Sunday amid allegations that German phone and internet traffic were spied on and the European Union offices in America bugged.

The German daily Der Spiegel mentioned in its issue on Sunday continuous US National Security Agency spying operations in Germany, which brought about outrage from German MPs.

The German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenburger said the behavior of the intelligence services was "reminiscent of the actions against enemies during the Cold War".

"It defies belief that our friends in the US see the Europeans as their enemies," she said.

Ex-CIA contractor Edward Snowden had stated that the NSA tapped into half a billion German phone calls, emails and SMS messages each month. Reports last week revealed extensive tapping of German phone and internet traffic by British intelligence under the Tempora program.

Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament, demanded "full clarification" from the US and said that if the disclosures proved true they would have a severe impact on US-EU ties.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team