Germany asks top U.S. spy to leave amid flap

The Washington Post ^ | July 10 , 2014 | Stephanie Kirchner

[Hojczyk]

Germany has asked the CIA station chief in the country to leave the country, an unusual action among allies that is a very public expression of anger over reported cases of U.S. spying in the country.

“The representative of the U.S. intelligence services at the Embassy of the United States of America has been requested to leave Germany,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement Thursday.

A day earlier, federal prosecutors in Germany said police had searched the office and apartment of an individual with ties to the country’s military who is suspected of working for U.S. intelligence. Those raids followed the arrest of an employee of Germany’s foreign intelligence services who was accused of selling secrets to the CIA.

Seibert said the request to have the CIA official leave was made “against the backdrop of the ongoing investigations of the Federal Prosecutor General as well as the questions pending for months about the activities of the US intelligence services in Germany, for which the Lower House of Parliament has also established a parliamentary inquiry committee.”

German officials have also been angered by the revelations of former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden of widespread U.S. surveillance in Germany, including of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, an operation that has since been halted.

[Gaffer]

Were I her, I would not ‘ask’. I’d have him escorted out under guard.

[Red Badger]

Another screw-up from the Obozo Team...............Hope & Change..........Piss off our allies, coddle our enemies, stir up the Middle East into all out war, Russia walks all over Ukraine and China laffs at us...........................failed presidency? By any standard, yes.....................

[KarlInOhio]

Were I her, I would not ‘ask’. I’d have him escorted out under guard.

Just add in the orange jumpsuit, handcuffs and TV cameras for the full per walk effect.

[qman]

I do not have a problem spying on Germany, hey they could be an enemy again. I have a problem with spying on american citizens inside the united states with out a damn good reason of suspicion.
I’m not quiet sure why spying on Germany is a good idea at this time. Do our spies have to much time on their hands and are just doing make work jobs to keep busy. Is it easier to spy on our friend than our enemies. Have we bugged the phones in Riyadh and don’t understand what their saying so we moved on to more familiar languages! Or are the Saudi’s sacrosanct because of the oil.

[LyinLibs]

This could be perfectly-timed window dressing.

Michael Shrimpton insists that Hussein is a sleeper agent trained by the ‘Gerrys’ aka Germany.

[Chad_the_Impaler]

We need to find out what Germany is up to. What is Germany hiding?

[DisorderOnBorder]

Maybe Germany has Obama’s real Kenyan Birth Certificate...

[PlasticMan]

“Requested to leave” in this context is a polite euphemism for “kicked out”