Britain runs spy post from its Berlin embassy
Print Edition
Britain has been operating a secret listening post from its Berlin embassy, a stone’s throw from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office, the Independent newspaper claimed yesterday.
The report said Britain’s electronic eavesdropping center GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) appeared to be using high-tech equipment on the embassy roof to intercept German data.
The broadsheet cited aerial photographs and information about past spying activities in Germany, as well as documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former contractor with the US National Security Agency.
The report comes hot on the heels of a furore over claims that the US tapped Merkel’s mobile phone as part of worldwide surveillance operations.
A US eavesdropping post on the roof of the US Embassy in Berlin is believed to have been shut down last week as Washington scrambled to limit damage from the row, the paper said.
The daily said that Snowden’s documents suggested GCHQ has worked with US agencies and other partners to operate a network of electronic spying posts from embassies around the world, intercepting data in host nations.
The Independent printed photos showing an aerial view of the British and US embassies — which are on the same block next to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin — highlighting large white boxes that it said were the intercept “nests.”
Thermal images of the US Embassy provided by the German public broadcaster ARD allegedly show a significant reduction in activity between October 24 and October 25, when claims first emerged that Merkel’s phone had been tapped.
ARD broadcast the images on October 27, saying that the top floor of the embassy possibly houses a listening “nest.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
