Snowden wants to discuss US spy scandal in Berlin
November 1, 2013 in News by The Manimal
Source: Press TV
US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden
Snowden’s comments came in a letter released on Friday in Berlin by German lawmaker Hans-Christian Stroebele after meeting the whistleblower in Moscow a day earlier.
Stroebele presented the letter to the German media and sent it to Chancellor Angela Merkel, the German parliament, and the German Federal Prosecutors.
In the letter, Snowden indicated that he will not speak with German officials until the United States stops its prosecution of leakers like him.
“I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior,” wrote Snowden in the letter.
“I look forward to speaking with you in your country when the situation is resolved,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Germany is prepared to meet with the US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden to receive details about Washington’s spying activities.
“If Snowden is willing to talk to German authorities then we will find ways,” said Friedrich.
This comes at a time that Germany is seeking answers to recent reports based on leaked documents by Snowden that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has monitored Merkel’s mobile phone for more than 10 years.
On October 30, the heads of Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies visited Washington to probe the spying controversy.
The German parliament is scheduled to convene on November 18 to discuss the spying scandal while some MPs, including Stroebele, have demanded a public inquiry calling in witnesses including Snowden.
Snowden, who was granted political asylum in Russia on August 1, has been charged in the United States with espionage and theft of government property after leaking documents that revealed the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been secretly gathering information of people in both the US and all around the world.
The NSA scandal took even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed information about its espionage activities targeting friendly countries.
