Spain summons US ambassador over spying claims

After Germany and France, Spain on Monday summoned the US ambassador as anger over reports of a US mass spying on people and leaders of many world countries including close allies in Europe is building up, threatening to shatter trust among trans-Atlantic allies. "The Ambassador of the United States, James Costos, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation this morning to clarify information released relating to the mass spying system run by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States," reads a press release issued by the Spanish Foreign Ministry. It added that the Secretary of State for the European Union Affairs Inigo Mendez de Vigo has conveyed to US ambassador Costos the government's concern regarding information in the press in the last few days and underlined that every system must maintain the necessary balance between security and protecting the privacy and intimacy of communications, as clearly laid down in Spanish legislation. "Spain conveyed to the United States the importance of preserving a climate of confidence in bilateral relations and wished to know the scope of certain practices that are certainly inappropriate and unacceptable between partners and allied countries," reads the press release. Mendez de Vigo urged the United States authorities to provide all the information necessary on the alleged interceptions carried out in Spain. "Ambassador Costos replied that he would convey this concern to his authorities and declared his conviction that in the framework of existing collaboration in all spheres between the two countries. "The Government of the United States would clear up any misunderstandings that might have arisen over this affair," concluded the statements. Moreover, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, who is on an official visit to Poland, said Monday that the government expressed its "serious concerns" about the spying allegations to Costos. The allegations, if confirmed, could lead to "the rupture of the climate of trust" between Madrid and Washington, Garcia-Margallo said. The Spanish daily El Mundo published Monday a detailed, backed with classified-data, report revealing that the US National Security Agency, or NSA, monitored millions of telephone calls in Spain. El Mundo also disclosed the surveillance included systematic trawling of huge volumes of digital information, intercepting personal details through web browsers, emails and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The documents, unveiled by El Mundo, have also shown the US engaging in large-scale surveillance of foreign governments and citizens from rivals such as China and Russia to allies in Europe and South America. The embarrassing disclosures come to surface in a report last week by Der Spiegel magazine which revealed that the NSA had one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phones tapped starting in 2002, three years before she even became chancellor. The Wall Street Journal said on Monday that the NSA had eavesdropped on the phones of some 35 world leaders, including Merkel. The newspaper said Obama had learned of the espionage program only after an internal mid-year review, and ordered an end to the spying on some leaders, including Merkel. Germany last Wednesday summoned US Ambassador to Berlin John B. Emerson to answer questions about the allegations. France last week demanded clarifications of a report the US had mined millions of French phone records, also summoning the US ambassador. Paris and Berlin have said they will seek talks with the US to reach an agreement about the conduct of intelligence gathering among allies by the end of the year. Germany and Brazil are set Tuesday to introduce a resolution at the UN General Assembly that would curb spying on electronic communication a UN diplomat said. Brazilian media reported in September that the NSA had monitored President Dilma Rousseff's phone and email communications with her advisers. This prompted her to call off a state visit to Washington