Germany to quiz US ambassador over phone spying row

Angela Merkel called President Barack Obama on Wednesday to make clear that if such surveillance had taken place it would represent a “grave breach of trust” between allies.

On Thursday US ambassador John B Emerson was summoned to attend a meeting at which Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is expected to “spell out the position of the German government.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney, has responded to the news claiming President Obama assured Chancellor Merkel that the United States “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the chancellor’s communications.

However, the White House official declined to elaborate on the statement or confirm spying had taken place in the past.

“I’m not in a position to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity,” he said.

German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere said it would be “really bad” if the surveillance was confirmed and -asked about the impact on US_German relations – warned that “we can’t simply return to business as usual.”

Friends don't spy on each other - Germany and the NSA 
The American embassy holds pride of place in Berlin, next to the Brandenburg gate where in 1963 President Kennedy declared that he was "ein Berliner", writes Channel 4 News Producer Tim Bouverie, who has just returned from Berlin.

In those days - just two years after the wall went up - the US was West Germany's revered ally; the champion of liberty and the guarantor of her security against the Soviet Union. Now Germans feel disillusioned, cynical and angry as the extent of the US NSA surveillance operation against themselves and their government becomes clear. I was in Berlin over the weekend and even before it was revealed that Uncle Sam had tapped Mutti's phone, Berliners were seriously exercised: "This is what you would do to North Korea," a young man told me. "it's completely wrong for friends to spy on each other."

Germany's experienced spying before and her citizens are extremely sensitive on the subject. The Gestapo and more recently the Stasi have left deep scars. Ironically, it was America that helped free Germany from the Nazis and kept, at least half of her population out of the clutches of the Stasi. So it is with a sense of bewilderment and betrayal that Germans are now learning that the American NSA has spied not only them and their government but even on their chancellor's private telephone calls.

This morning the German foreign minister summoned the American ambassador to account for his government while yesterday Angela Merkel told President Obama that the tapping of her phone was completely "unacceptable".

Unacceptable is what most Germans are thinking and even if Obama and Merkel kiss and make up (the only option for both of them in reality) the distrust and anti-American sentiment in Germany will take far longer to erase.

The news comes as Secretary of State John Kerry visits Rome, French President Francois Hollande is pushing for US spying to be put on the agenda of a summit of European leaders.

Mr Hollande also called Mr Obama this week after newspaper Le Monde reported the National Security Agency (NSA) had collected tens of thousands of French phone records in a single month last year.

Last month Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called off plans for a state visit to Washington due to similar spying revelations.

Are you listening to me?

In the UK, Downing Street refused to comment on whether Prime Minister David Cameron’s phone could have been targeted – or whether they had been given any assurances by the US that it had not.

However, Caitlin Hayden, a spokesman for the National Security Council told the Daily Telegraph: “We do not monitor PM Cameron’s communications.”

Asked if the US had ever spied on Mr Cameron in the past, she replied: “No.”

At a regular briefing for journalists in Westminster Mr Cameron’s official spokesman added: “I’m not going to comment on matters of security or intelligence.”