Germany Kicks Out Top US Intelligence Officer In Spy Row

[cobra commando]

BERLIN — Germany on Thursday expelled the CIA station chief in Berlin in an escalating row over alleged spying by the US that has opened the worst diplomatic rift in years between the Western allies. The expulsion comes after two suspected US spy cases were uncovered in less than a week in Germany, where anger still simmers over the NSA surveillance scandal sparked by revelations from fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. "The representative of the US intelligence services at the embassy of the United States of America has been told to leave Germany," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. The step was highly unusual among NATO allies and underlined Berlin's anger. The official request to leave was based on two probes by German prosecutors of suspected US spying "as well as outstanding questions over the last several months about the activities of the US secret services in Germany," said Seibert. "The government takes these developments very seriously," he added amid the worst Berlin- Washington falling-out since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. News site Spiegel Online called the move a "diplomatic earthquake." It pointed out that such measures were usually reserved for "pariah states" such as North Korea. There are few precedents for such dramatic measures between NATO members. Among the latest was France's decision in 1995 to send home several US officials for spying on its territory. The White House refused to comment. But the US embassy in Berlin and the US National Security Council both stressed that it was "essential" that security cooperation continue as "it keeps Germans and Americans safe."


Read more here:
Germany Kicks Out Top US Intelligence Officer In Spy Row | Defense News | defensenews.com