Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha
Berlin: A couple of days after France summoned US envoy over US spying claims, Germany became the latest European nation on Thursday to have registered a strong dissent against the US by summoning the American ambassador over the claims that German Chancellor Angela Merkel`s phone calls had been spied upon.
In what seems to strain the close relationship between the two allies, US envoy John Emerson was summoned to Berlina and will be met by German Foreign Ministers Guido Westerwelle later today.
Earlier, German Chancellor Merkel called up Obama, asking for an explanation over the reports of the US having monitored her phone calls.
A sharp statement issued by Merkel`s spokesperson said that she "unequivocally disapproves of such practices, should they be confirmed, and regards them as completely unacceptable".
"She made clear that she views such practices, if proven true, as completely unacceptable and condemns them unequivocally," the statement added.
Reacting to Merkel`s objection, the White House said that Obama had assured her during the phone call that the US "is not and will not monitor" her mobile.
However, the statement did not make it clear if the US had eavesdrop on her mobile in the past.
The US has been under fire from European allies in recent days with France, Brazil and Mexico fuming over similar reports of US spying.
The furore over the National Security Agency spying on foreign countries and their leaders was reignited after a report in the French newspaper Le Monde claimed that the US had tracked 70.3 million phone calls in France in a time span of just 30 days between 10 December, 2012, and 8 January, 2013.
The fury against the US had intensified by a similar report in the German weekly Der Spiegel according to which the NSA also hacked into the email account of former Mexican President Felipe Calderon who called the act of spying as "affront to the institutions of the country".
Earlier, Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff cancelled a visit to the US after reports surfaced saying that the NSA had tracker messages on her cell phone and her aides.
The US is facing the brunt of revelations made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, whose leaks are being reported by Glenn Greenwald, who recently quit the Guardian to join eBay founder.
