Following revelations based on Edward Snowden's leaks that the NSA had been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone calls, President Obama tried to assure the ally leader. The U.S. "is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of chancellor Merkel," Obama said (notably leaving room for the U.S. having spied on Merkel in the past).
Yet, as the Guardian reported Tuesday, the U.S. is allegedly refusing to sign a "no-spy" deal with Germany and has refused to rule out potentially tapping the phones of German political leaders. This, despite the diplomatic firestorm that followed the NSA revelation three months ago.
The Guardian reported:
Initial hopes in Germany that the U.S. would enter into some kind of non-spying pact similar to the one between America and Britain have been dashed, according to information obtained by Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
"We are not getting anything," the newspaper quotes a source from within the German foreign intelligence agency. "The Americans have lied to us," said another source.
As well as refusing to inform German authorities of when the NSA had been bugging the chancellor's mobile phone, the US is not commenting on plans for current or future surveillance activities in relation to German political leaders.
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