The German newspaper Bild, quoting a German intelligence report, revealed that an Egyptian spy was discovered in the vicinity of the spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
According to the newspaper, the employee who worked in the service of the Merkel government media office’s visitors with a mid-level job, did years of intelligence work for Egyptian security agencies.
The German police said on Thursday that it had opened an investigation against the employee, who is suspected of "working for many years for an Egyptian intelligence service," noting that the investigation was opened against him last December, and is still ongoing.
The newspaper relied on a report published by the German Interior Intelligence Thursday, saying that there are indications that Egyptian agencies are trying to attract citizens living in Germany for intelligence purposes.
According to the report, two Egyptian secret services operating in Germany are the General Intelligence Service and the National Security Service. According to the report, the two bodies aim to collect information about opponents who live in Germany, "such as members of the Muslim Brotherhood."
He added that other people of Egyptian origin, such as members of the Coptic Christian Societies, could be focused on intelligence as well.
The Attorney General confirmed that investigations were being carried out on suspicion of intelligence activities, but it is not yet clear what information was provided by the suspected spy.
For its part, the German newspaper Die Welt said that the aforementioned employee may have collected data on Egyptian journalists for the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.