DHAKA: The US has been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone since 2002, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine.

The German publication claims to have seen secret documents from the National Security Agency which show Merkel’s number on a list dating from 2002, before she became chancellor.

Her number was still on a surveillance list in 2013.

Meanwhile Washington has seen a protest against the NSA’s spying programme.

Several thousand protesters marched to the US Capitol to demand a limit to the surveillance. Some of them held banners in support of the fugitive former contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed the extent of the NSA’s activities.

The nature of the monitoring of Merkel’s mobile phone is not clear from the files, Der Spiegel says, reports the BBC.

For example, it is possible that the chancellor’s conversations were recorded, or that her contacts were simply assessed.

BDST: 1322 HRS, OCT 27, 2013
RoR/BSK