German prosecutor probes US bugging of Merkel phone

Germany’s top public prosecutor has launched an investigation into the bugging of Angela Merkel’s mobile phone by US intelligence in the light of revelations by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, authorities announced last night.

The two countries have been at odds over the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) spying habits since Snowden’s revelations last year showed the United States had listened in on many of its allies, including Merkel, severely testing ties between Berlin and Washington.

Attorney General Harald Range’s office said Germany’s top federal prosecutor has enough data to push ahead with an official investigation. “Extensive preliminary investigations produced sufficient factual evidence that unknown US intelligence officers tapped a mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel,” said a statement from Range’s office.