BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The German government has responded to allegations by a German magazine that the US embassy in Berlin was one of the headquarters used by the US to monitor German communications - including those of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The allegations were made in Der Spiegel magazine. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert says they are investigating the issue but will work to keep the German-US relationship intact.

"It is clear that the information we are investigating right now is very serious and if it is true it would be, as Chancellor Merkel already, said a betrayal of trust. But we think that Germany together with the US can solve this problem. We will push the clearance of this case with full power because we have a great interest in a good German - American relationship," Steffen Seibert said.

Documents leaked by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden have been behind a series of revelations about the agency’s surveillance program. A Spanish newspaper published a document on Monday that it said shows the NSA spied on more than 60 million phone calls in Spain in one month alone.

Last week the French paper Le Monde reported similar allegations in France. The leaders of Brazil and Mexico were also reportedly spied on. At last week’s European summit, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said they would press the Obama administration to agree by year’s end to limits that could put an end to the alleged American eavesdropping on foreign leaders, businesses and citizens.

(Source: CNTV.cn)