Kathmandu, February 27
Germany’s foreign intelligence service spied on the phones, faxes and e-mails of several news organisations and journalists worldwide, including journalist associations in Nepal, a new report in a German media outlet claims.
Also on the list are The New York Times, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Reuters, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
Der Spiegel said that it saw a list that indicated that the German intelligence service, the BND, had monitored at least 50 phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses beginning in 1999.
Der Spiegel says, “The German spies also conducted surveillance on the independent Zimbabwean newspaper Daily News before dictator Robert Mugabe banned it for seven years in 2003. Other numbers on the list belonged to news agencies from Kuwait, Lebanon and India in addition to journalist associations in Nepal and Indonesia.”
However, it is not clear which Nepali associations were targetted by the BND. It is also not clear whether it continues to spy on Nepali journalists.
According to the New York Times, the BND routinely declines to comment on its activities, and Der Spiegel said it had received the standard reply that the intelligence service was obliged to explain its actions only to the German government or relevant bodies of Parliament.
