Germany spied on US state secretaries, German weekly claims

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency BND eavesdropped on United States Secretary of State John Kerry and his predecessor Hillary Clinton, German weekly Der Spiegel claimed Saturday.  The agency has also spied on NATO partner Turkey since 2009, the weekly claimed. Germany’s Green Party MP Konstantin von Notz called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to explain "unconditionally" the BND’s activities and since when the chancellor has been informed. Der Spiegel said that the BND "mistakenly" eavesdropped on Kerry and Clinton within a wider context of intelligence operations. Earlier in July, German authorities revealed that two German officials working for the Defense Ministry and the BND had carried out espionage activities in their respective institutions over a two-year period, and passed over confidential information to U.S. secret services. The top CIA official in Germany left his mission on July 17, following a request from the German government. U.S.-German relations suffered significant damage late 2013 after the alleged surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by the U.S.’s National Security Agency, or NSA.