Swiss MPs urge US diplomats ouster

Angry Swiss lawmakers have called for the ouster of US diplomats implicated in an illegal surveillance program in Switzerland.

The call comes a day after the Swiss Ministry of Justice said it was investigating reports that the US embassy in Geneva has been conducting illegal surveillance on Swiss territory, according to the Associated Press.

“If the suspicion turns out to be true, then the Federal Council has to send a signal,” Green Party lawmaker Josef Lang told the Zurich daily Tages-Anzeiger.

“It should expel the US agents from the country and summon the ambassador.”

Reports say that US diplomats have been monitoring some citizens’ actions — including allegedly taking pictures of street demonstrations and of people deemed to pose security risks, sparking a wave of anti-American sentiment.

In 2007, the US requested Geneva to allow it to conduct surveillance on its buildings on Swiss territory for security reasons.

Switzerland denied the request at the time “due to a lack of legal basis and bilateral accords on this domain,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

It was revealed late last year that US embassies in Norway and Denmark had been conducting similar programs.