Public broadcaster ARD airs interview in which whistleblower says National Security Agency is involved in industrial espionage.<\/i><\/p>\n
The National Security Agency is involved in industrial espionage and will take\u00a0intelligence regardless of its value to national security, the\u00a0former NSA contractor Edward\u00a0Snowden<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0told a German television network.<\/p>\n In a lengthy interview broadcast on the\u00a0public broadcaster\u00a0ARD TV on Sunday [26 Jan 2014],\u00a0 Snowden said the NSA did not limit its espionage to issues of national security and cited the German engineering firm Siemens as one target.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there’s information at Siemens that’s beneficial to US national interests \u2013 even if it doesn’t have anything to do with national security \u2013 then they’ll take that information nevertheless,\u201d\u00a0Snowden\u00a0said in the interview conducted in Russia, where Snowden has claimed asylum.<\/p>\n Snowden\u00a0also told the German public broadcasting network he no longer had possession of any documents or information on NSA activities and had turned everything over to\u00a0select\u00a0journalists.\u00a0He said he did not have any control over the publication of the information.<\/p>\n Questions about US government spying on civilians and foreign officials arose last June, when\u00a0Snowden\u00a0leaked documents outlining the widespread collection of telephone records and email to media outlets including the Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reports that the NSA monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone<\/a> have added to anger in Germany, which has been pushing for a \u201cno-spy\u201d agreement with the US, a country it considers to be among its closest allies.<\/p>\n Snowden also talked about US reports that his life was in danger for leaking the documents. But he said that he sleeps well because he believes he did the right thing by informing the public about the NSA’s activities.<\/p>\n “There are significant threats but I sleep very well,” he said before referring to a report on a US website that he said quoted anonymous US officials saying his life was in danger.
\n“These people, and they are government officials, have said they would love to put a bullet in my head or poison me when I come out of the supermarket and then watch me die in the shower,” Snowden said.<\/p>\n