Even Angela Merkel's cell phone may have been secretly listened to by the American secret services, but the White House denies it.
"The federal government has obtained information stating that the chancellor's cell phone may have been monitored by American services", writes the Berlin chancellery in a note, specifying that Merkel has "phoned Barack Obama".
The American president "assured the chancellor that the United States is not and will not monitor his communications," said White House spokesman Jay Carney, avoiding however giving explanations on what happened in the past.
The German weekly "Der Spiegel" revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) had in the past intercepted Merkel's phone calls, based on information provided by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, who fled to Russia.
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, reported that the German prime minister called Obama to tell him that he "unequivocally disapproves of similar practices, should they be confirmed, and considers them unacceptable". Berlin asked Washington for an “immediate and complete explanation. Between close friends and allies, as Germany and the United States have been for decades, there should be no such control of a head of government's communications", which would be "a serious breach of trust".
