Spain opens inquiry into NSA spying operations

Spain’s public prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that the US spy agency has conducted illegal surveillance operations on millions of Spanish citizens.

Spain’s Attorney General Eduardo Torres-Dulce called for an information gathering process to determine whether a crime was committed and if Spain should consider opening a formal investigation, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The public prosecutor’s office said it would “determine the reality of the facts and their circumstances” on whether the alleged large-scale spying on Spanish citizens could involve criminal aspects and evaluate their eventual penal consequences.

The statement comes a day after the Spanish Foreign Ministry summoned American Ambassador James Costos regarding media reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had spied on 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a single month.

Spain has warned that mutual trust between Madrid and Washington could be broken if the allegations prove to be true.

Several other countries have also summoned US ambassadors to explain the NSA spying activities.

European countries announced they will send a nine-member delegation to Washington to seek answers to US’ massive spying activities on telephone and online communications of citizens and more than 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

This is while Germany and Brazil are spearheading efforts to draft a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to condemn US spying on other countries. The measure is gaining international support as 21 countries including France and Mexico have so far joined talks to hammer out the resolution.