The German government’s\u00a0decision to recommend the CIA station chief\u2019s removal was reportedly made at a senior governmental level, following a \u201cfruitless\u201d telephone exchange between CIA Director John Brennan and Klaus-Dieter Fritsche, the coordinator between the German Chancellery and the BND.<\/p>\n
According to German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, Brennan offered Fritsche no apology and had \u201cnothing to contribute other than clich\u00e9s about transatlantic ties\u201d, as well as his expressed irritation about the way the media were handling the incident.<\/p>\n
Berlin is also irritated by the fact that US President Barack Obama did not raise the issue during a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 3, even though the CIA\u2019s BND recruit had been arrested the day before.<\/p>\n
German government sources believe the President either had not been notified by the CIA of the agent\u2019s arrest, or was too embarrassed to mention it.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Washington has so far remained silent on the matter. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told reporters on Thursday: \u201cwe\u2019re certainly not going to discuss who knew what and when in regards to the allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n
Germany has instructed its intelligence agencies to limit their cooperation with their American counterparts \u201cto the bare essentials\u201d until further notice, according to media reports.<\/p>\n
The move follows news that Berlin requested on Thursday the immediate removal from Germany of the United States Central Intelligence Agency chief of station \u2014essentially the top American official in the country.<\/p>\n
The request came after two German citizens, one working for the BND, Germany\u2019s main external intelligence organization, and one working for the country\u2019s Federal Ministry of Defense, were allegedly found to have been secretly spying for the US.<\/p>\n
German media reported on Thursday that the temporary halt in Berlin\u2019s intelligence collaboration with Washington applies across the spectrum, with the exception of areas directly affecting tactical security concerns for Germany, such as the protection of its troops in Afghanistan, or defending against immediate terrorist threats.<\/p>\n
Sources in the German capital claimed that the removal of the CIA station chief was technically a \u201crecommendation for his departure\u201d, and did not constitute an official diplomatic expulsion.<\/p>\n