German police said on Thursday (July 9th) that they had opened an investigation against an alleged Egyptian spy working for the press service of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The man is suspected "of having worked for years on behalf of an Egyptian intelligence service", said German Interior 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 the past few months, speaking only of "measures" taken by the police against him. 

According to the German daily 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. 

He worked in particular in the service of visits of the German federal press center, the Bundespresseamt, a service in charge in particular of the communication on the activities of the chancellery. 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.

Surveillance of Egyptian opponents

Their objective is in particular to collect information on opponents of the Egyptian power 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. 

The Egyptian services also take an interest in members of the Christian community of the Copts and try to recruit Egyptian nationals as spies. "They take advantage of the trips made by these people in Egyptian diplomatic representations in Germany or the trips they make" in their country of origin, the report said. 

Apart from a brief parenthesis following the popular uprising of January-February 2011 which ousted President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been ruled since 1952 by the military. 

The army, portrayed as the protector of the people, is omnipresent in society and its role has increased in recent years. 

The current president came to power in 2013 after removing Mohamed Morsi, the only democratically elected and civil head of state in Egypt. 

With AFP  

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