Germans launch probe into allegations of US spying

MICHAEL BIRNBAUM, WASHINGTON POST

BERLIN - The Obama administration's relationship with Europe appeared to have been dealt a major setback Thursday over accusations of eavesdropping, including a new report alleging that the National Security Agency had monitored the phone conversations of more than 30 other world leaders.Furious European leaders threatened to delay trade negotiations over a report that U.S. intelligence agencies listened in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone conversations. German officials launched a legal investigation and said the scandal could disrupt counterterrorism collaboration.
The website of the Guardian newspaper published what it described as a secret U.S. memo in which the NSA encouraged American officials to share their "rolodexes" with the agency. The memo said that in one case, a U.S. official had provided the NSA with 200 phone numbers tied to 35 world leaders.
The memo went on to say that the numbers had resulted in "little reportable intelligence," apparently because they were not used for "sensitive discussions."

The issue of U.S. surveillance quickly rose to the top of the agenda at a long-planned summit of European leaders in Brussels that began Thursday. Many in attendance said they were shocked that a powerful ally they considered a friend might have tapped their personal communications, long considered a diplomatic no-no.

"Spying among friends, that just does not work," Merkel told reporters in Brussels Thursday. "The United States and Europe face common challenges," she said, but added: "Trust has to be restored."

President Obama has assured Merkel that the United States "is not monitoring and will not monitor" her communications, the White House said. But for a second day, the assurances left out discussion of whether she had been monitored in the past.

Analysts said Thursday that although some of Europe's outrage over NSA spying in recent months was more for domestic consumption than because of genuine surprise, the shock in Germany did stem from a sense that a line had been crossed.

"There was a general assumption that certain kinds of people were off-limits," said Constanze Stelzenmueller, a security and defense expert at the Berlin office of the nonprofit German Marshall Fund of the United States. "No one has a problem with spying on the bad guys. But when you start spying on your partner in leadership, who is presumably not a terrorist, that raises a lot of questions about trust."

In a flurry of activity Thursday, Merkel met one-on-one with French President Francois Hollande, who also this week condemned alleged U.S. spying in France. The U.S. ambassador in Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for consultations.