Germany hopes for Snowden meeting on US spying

The German government says it is keen to hear directly from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden about the US spy agency’s activities.

“If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information then we’ll gladly accept that,” said German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich.

He did not specify which German officials might meet Mr Snowden, who is a fugitive in Moscow.

Mr Snowden has met a German Green MP, Hans-Christian Stroebele, in Moscow.

Mr Stroebele tweeted a photograph of himself with Mr Snowden, who has temporary asylum in Russia.

It is not clear whether Mr Snowden would get legal protection in Germany. The US authorities want to get him extradited to stand trial for revealing official secrets.

His Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena has said his client would not be able to go to Germany to help investigators, but could give evidence in Moscow.

Reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone was bugged by US spies for years overshadowed last week’s EU summit and she remarked with irritation that spying on friends is “really not on”.

Mr Friedrich, quoted by German media, said that “any clarification, any information and facts that we can get, is good”.

“We will find a way, if Mr Snowden is willing to talk,” he added.

Mr Snowden gave Mr Stroebele a letter addressed to the German government, offering to divulge more information about National Security Agency surveillance, Mr Stroebele said.

The fugitive has a visa allowing him to live in Russia until next June.

Some in Germany are raising the possibility of Berlin then granting him asylum.

That would raise all sorts of issues, the BBC’s Stephen Evans reports from Berlin – including whether Germany could or would refuse to extradite him to the United States.

Mr Snowden, 30, fled to Russia in June after leaking details of far-reaching US telephone espionage.

The scale of the alleged espionage has provoked international concern and calls for tighter supervision.

Mr Snowden “will not go to Germany”, his lawyer said. “This is not possible because he has no right to cross Russian borders.

“Within the framework of international agreements Snowden can give testimony in Russia but this should be decided by the German authorities.”

New job

Earlier Mr Stroebele said Mr Snowden would be prepared to come to Germany to testify to an investigation into the NSA for which he once worked.

Speaking to German ARD television, Mr Stroebele said that Mr Snowden “is fundamentally ready to help bring things to light”.

“The conditions for that have to be established. We had a long discussion about that.”

The MP said he had suggested that investigators could question Mr Snowden in Moscow about the NSA.

Mr Snowden “made it clear that he knows a very great deal,” he went on.

Mr Stroebele described the former intelligence contractor as “amazingly talkative – he has a mission, an urge to communicate, he wants things to be put back on a legal basis”.

Mr Snowden is starting work on Friday for a major private website in Russia, his lawyer has said.

Mr Kucherena would not disclose which site has employed Mr Snowden, citing security concerns.