Issued on: 10/07/2020 – 09:21
A former employee of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's press office was discharged in December last year on suspicions that he was spying for Egypt, according to a government report seen by German media on Thursday.
Advertising
Read more
Police carried out "executive measures" against the man in December 2019 after he was found to have "worked for years for an Egyptian intelligence service", according to the report.
The Federal Public Prosecutor confirmed that the man was charged on suspicion of espionage and that the investigation is ongoing.
Local newspaper Bild said the man worked for the visitor service of the federal government press office (BPA), headed by Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert
He was a mid-level employee, meaning he would have completed an exam and at least two years of vocational training.
The premises of the visitor service were searched as part of the investigation, Bild reported.
A spokesman for the BPA told AFP it would not comment on ongoing investigations or personnel matters.
The main tasks of Egyptian secret service agents in Germany include gathering information about members of groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the government report.
They are also interested in members of the Coptic Christian community and in recruiting Egyptian nationals as spies, it said.
"There are indications that Egyptian services are trying to recruit Egyptians living in Germany for intelligence purposes tRead More – Source
[contf]
[contfnew]
france24
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
