Spying claims bad for Merkel

GERMANY: German intelligence agents systematically spied on the White House and United States government departments over a number of years, it has been claimed.

The damaging allegations could prove highly embarrassing for Angela Merkel and expose her to charges of hypocrisy over her outrage in 2013, when it emerged that the US had tapped her mobile phone.

At the time, the German chancellor famously declared: ‘‘Spying among friends is not on.’’

But according to new allegations published in Der Spiegel magazine, Germany’s BND intelligence service carried out electronic surveillance on the US government from 1998 to 2006.

Targets included phones, fax machines and computers in the White House, the State Department and the US Treasury. They also included the US military, private defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin, and Nasa.

Der Spiegel claimed it had seen a list of so-called ‘‘selectors’’ - telephone and fax numbers and email addresses that the BND was covertly monitoring. Among them were 4000 targets in the US, including government departments, foreign embassies, and international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the Arab League.

Military targets included the US Air Force and Marine Corps, and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

It is claimed that the BND also spied on NGOs, including the New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch.

Der Spiegel said it was not clear if surveillance continued after 2006, as it had not seen records for later dates. Merkel became chancellor in November 2005.

Neither the BND nor the government have commented on the allegations. – Telegraph Group