German government ready to meet Snowden on US spying

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Friday that the government is willing to talk with whistleblower Edward Snowden on U.S. spying in Germany that included alleged monitoring of mobile phone communications of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The minister told reporters that Germany would like to talk with Snowden if he is willing to help shed light on the spying scandal. Meanwhile, Germany's opposition Green Party plans to release a letter by Snowden to Merkel following a lawmaker's meeting with the whistleblower in Moscow on U.S. spying in Germany. Christian Stroebele, lawmaker for the opposition Green's party, said after the meeting with Snowden on Thursday that the whistleblower is willing in principle to help shed light on the spying, adding that Snowden was prepared to travel to Germany to testify or to testify in Russia. However, Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told Russian media on Friday that it is impossible for Snowden to leave Russia to be questioned by German prosecutors but can provide testimony inside Russia. Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after exposing massive surveillance by the U.S. intelligence service. Meanwhile, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that the German government was not informed of the Green Party lawmaker's trip to Moscow. Germany has ruled out granting Snowden asylum. The German government has voiced its anger at possible U.S. intelligence's tapping of Merkel's phone, saying it would be "a serious breach of trust" if confirmed. Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told local media earlier this week that the German Federal Prosecutor's Office will have to consider the possibility of interrogating Snowden as a witness if suspicions on the spying prove correct and a case is opened. Snowden, the former U.S. intelligence contractor, provided classified documents with evidence of the alleged spying scandal. American allies in Europe have been in an uproar over media reports that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored the communications of Merkel and tens of millions of phone calls in France and Spain. However, U.S. National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander on Tuesday told lawmakers that the recent media reports about the agency's spying on European allies are "completely false."