German federal prosecutors say they have closed a year-long probe into the alleged wiretapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone by the U.S. National Security Agency.
The German chief prosecutor's office announced Friday that the matter had been closed because investigators could not find evidence that could be legally proven in court.
Allegations that the NSA spied on its European allies emerged in late 2013 in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. During a telephone call in October 2013, Chancellor Merkel rebuked U.S. President Barack Obama over allegations that the NSA had specifically listened in on her telephone communications. President Obama replied that the U.S. is not monitoring, and will not monitor her communications.
Within a day of that phone call, the U.S. ambassador to Germany also met with the German foreign minister on the matter. President Obama also ordered a review of the way U.S. intelligence is gathered to ensure a balance of security concerns and privacy concerns, and to make sure there is no spying of foreign allies.
News of the alleged monitoring was broken by the German publication Der Spiegel in October 2013.
Material for this report came from AFP and Reuters.
