Villa in Vienna suspected of being US spy base
Vienna is a fabled city for spying - and now its cloak-and-dagger legend has a 21st century twist. A stately villa in a leafy district of the Austrian capital is at the centre of a row over whether the US National Security Agency is snooping on the city's residents.
Vienna is a fabled city for spying - and now its cloak-and-dagger legend has a 21st century twist.
A stately villa in a leafy district of the Austrian capital is at the centre of a row over whether the US National Security Agency is snooping on the city's residents.
Allegations are flying that the building serves as a sophisticated US intelligence listening post.
Both the US and Austrian governments deny reports claiming to expose a major surveillance operation by the NSA from within the towers of the manor.
The US Embassy says the building is an "Open Source Centre" evaluating information freely available in newspapers and on the internet. Such centres are run by the CIA.
Despite the denials, many Austrians remain sceptical in a country shocked at revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the organisation has been able to spy on the online activities of millions of people worldwide.
The Viennese are also mindful of the city's cold war reputation as the spying capital of the world - an outpost for eavesdropping by both sides of the divide. With passions running high over the NSA, Austrians question the need for any kind of US intelligence- gathering in their capital, including open source centres.