Germany summons U.S. envoy over spy case

7/4/2014

In this picture taken Thursday evening July 3, 2014, former NSA employee Thomas Drake, center, arrives at the parliamentary NSA investigation committee in Berlin, Germany, German lawmakers began hearing expert testimony for a probe into the activities of foreign intelligence agencies in Germany. The inquiry was sparked by reports based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, which showed that German citizens, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, were targeted by U.S. intelligence. (AP Photo/dpa, Hannibal Hanschke)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BERLIN — Germany’s foreign ministry says the U.S. ambassador in Berlin has been summoned following the arrest of a German reported to have spied for the United States.

The ministry said in a statement that Ambassador John B. Emerson was asked today by a senior German official to assist in the “swift clarification” of the case.

Federal prosecutors said a 31-year-old German man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence services. They did not identify the suspect or the intelligence services.

But German media, citing unnamed government sources, reported that he worked for Germany’s foreign intelligence service and had admitted to have passed on information to U.S. agents since 2012.

The U.S. National Security Council declined to comment on the case.