German police said on Thursday they had opened an investigation against an alleged Egyptian spy working for Chancellor Angela Merkel's press service. The man is suspected of "having worked for years on behalf of an Egyptian intelligence service," said German Internal Intelligence in a report, adding that the investigation opened in December 2019 "continues" today. hui.
He has not given any information on his identity or his whereabouts in recent months, speaking only of "measures" taken by the police against him. According to the German daily newspaper Bild , the man is an employee of the German public service "of intermediate grade", hierarchically at a higher level than the beginners but not forming part of the high civil service.
Surveillance of Egyptian journalists
The alleged spy worked in particular in the visits service of the German federal press center, the Bundespresseamt, a service responsible in particular for communication on the activities of the Chancellery. This affair is therefore very embarrassing for Angela Merkel. In particular, the alleged spy was responsible for welcoming visitors. According to Bild , he could in particular have in this way monitored Egyptian journalists.
According to the German Internal Intelligence report, both the Egyptian Foreign Spy Service (GIS) and its Internal Intelligence Service (NSS) are active in Germany. Their objective is in particular to collect information on opponents of the Egyptian regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi who live in the country. And in particular sympathizers of the Brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 2013 in Egypt.
- World