The imbroglio over the tapping of Angela Merkel’s phone deepened on Sunday, after a US denial that President Barack Obama was informed years ago of electronic surveillance of the German chancellor.
As a sense of betrayal spread in European capitals about spying activities conducted on world leaders and ordinary citizens, German media reports said eavesdropping on Merkel’s phone may have begun as early as 2002.
The newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that America’s National Security Agency chief General Keith Alexander had specifically briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.
“Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue,” the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying.
Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue
News weekly reported that leaked NSA documents showed Merkel’s phone had appeared on a list of spying targets for over a decade, and was still under surveillance weeks before Obama visited Berlin in June.
