This Article is From Jul 17, 2014

Top American Spy in Germany Has Left Country

Top American Spy in Germany Has Left Country

German Chancellor Angela Merkel chats with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a plenary session at the Lower House of parliament Bundestag on July 3, 2014.

Berlin: The top US intelligence official in Germany has left the country, a week after the government in Berlin asked him to go.

US Embassy spokesman Peter Claussen told The Associated Press on Thursday that "the individual who was asked to leave the country last week is no longer in Germany."

Germany demanded that the "representative of the US intelligence services" depart shortly after authorities uncovered two cases of alleged American spying.

One case involved a German intelligence employee allegedly passing documents to US agents, while the other centered on a man who worked at the German Defense Ministry.

The two cases further strained trans-Atlantic tensions already fraught by reports last year of US surveillance activity in Germany that reportedly included monitoring Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.
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