Germany: Merkel's press service staffer suspected of spying for Egypt

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer speaks during a press conference on July 9, 2020 in Berlin.

Source: i24

July 10 2020

Suspected informant said to have held a mid-level position with the visitor service until late 2019

A man suspected of espionage on Egypt's behalf worked in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's press office until December 2019, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced Thursday.

According to the Bild newspaper, the suspect held a mid-level position within the visitor service.

In late 2019, "executive action" was taken against the employee, and the German police searched the premises where he was working.

"There are indications that Egyptian services are trying to recruit Egyptians living in Germany for intelligence purposes," Seehofer said.

The recruitment happens during visits to Egyptian diplomatic missions on the German soil or during trips to Egypt, he clarified.

According to Seehofer, German authorities suspect that Cairo seeks information on possible Muslim Brotherhood members within the Egyptian community in Germany. Coptic Christians are also within its sphere of interest.

Muslim Brotherhood, an international Sunni movement, is banned in Egypt as a terrorist group since 2013, when the incumbent President Abdel Fattah Khalil al-Sisi toppled a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned President Mohammed Morsi, who died in mid-June 2019 during his trial.

The group is also banned in Russia, the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In 2019, US media reported that US President Donald Trump was mulling designating the group as a terrorist entity as well.

* See also: The Muslim Brotherhood and Germany Security