German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday allegations that a German man worked as a double agent for U.S. intelligence were serious and, if true, were a clear contradiction of what cooperation between partners is supposed to be about.
The case risks further straining ties with Washington, which have been sorely tested by revelations last year of large-scale snooping on Germany by the U.S. National Security Agency.
Merkel was speaking at a news conference on a visit to Beijing where she oversaw the signing of agreements involving Airbus Group NV’s helicopter division selling 100 aircraft to Chinese companies.
The White House and State Department have so far declined to comment on the arrest of a 31-year-old employee of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency.
According to intelligence and political sources, the man admits passing documents to a U.S. contact.
Those include information about a parliamentary committee looking into allegations by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that Washington carried out major surveillance in Germany, including monitoring Merkel’s phone.
Surveillance is a sensitive issue in a country where memories of the Nazi’s Gestapo secret police and communist East Germany’s Stasi ensure the right to privacy is treasured.
