A Strange Sort Of Unity

Governments in the so-called Western Bloc like to portray themselves as united against the Eastern bloc but their so-called unit is of a somewhat fragile nature. 'The German authorities have summoned the US ambassador in Berlin after a man was arrested on suspicion of spying. The US diplomat "was asked to help in the swift clarification" of the case, the foreign ministry said. ......... US-German ties were strained after allegations last year that the US National Security Agency (NSA) bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone as part of a huge surveillance programme.' (BBC News, 5 July) The man arrested on Wednesday is a 31-year-old German employee of the federal intelligence service, the BND or Bundesnachrichtendienst, federal prosecutors say. Media reports suggested the suspect - a man with a mid-level rank at the BND - had been spying for the US for a period of two years. RD