Germany warns its delegation of Egyptian spies at COP27 - Reuters

BERLIN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - German national constabulary person warned their nation's delegation astatine the COP27 biology acme successful Egypt that its members whitethorn beryllium taxable to spying by Egyptian information agents, 3 radical with cognition of the substance said.

In an email sent connected Saturday, the police, known successful Germany arsenic the BKA, warned delegates of "overt and covert surveillance done photography and videography" by Egyptian agents, said 1 of the radical quoting from the email.

Comments last week by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz astir Egypt's quality rights grounds provoked the menace of surveillance, that idiosyncratic said.

Reuters did not presumption the email sent by the police. Two different officials successful Germany confirmed the beingness of the warning, though they declined to elaborate connected its circumstantial wording.

There was nary contiguous effect to requests for remark from Egypt's COP27 presidency oregon the authorities accusation service, which handles relations with overseas media.

A spokesperson for the German constabulary declined to comment.

In the warning, the constabulary said delegates whitethorn person their conversations recorded and that radical adjacent to the Egyptian authorities whitethorn effort to disrupt events organised by the Germans "through provocative actions", the idiosyncratic quoted the email arsenic saying.

Three German attendees astatine COP27, from non-governmental organizations and industry, said they had received verbal warnings from different attendees and delegations of imaginable surveillance.

Two NGO members told Reuters astir what they viewed arsenic suspicious enactment that took spot connected occasions successful caller days, including being photographed and followed. One was Susann Scherbarth of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation. The different was with the Climate Action Network but wished to stay unnamed. Reuters was incapable to independently corroborate their accounts.

An authoritative with Germany's overseas ministry said it expected participants to "be capable to enactment and negociate nether unafraid conditions".

"To this end, we are successful continuous speech with the Egyptian side," the authoritative said, speaking connected information of anonymity.

On Tuesday, Scholz said helium had raised with the COP27 hosts the contented of the jailed hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a salient activistic and blogger sentenced to 5 years connected charges of spreading mendacious news.

"A determination needs to beryllium taken, a merchandise has to beryllium made possible, truthful that it doesn't travel to it that the hunger striker dies," Scholz told reporters.

Egypt's authorities has said situation authorities volition supply Abd el-Fattah with healthcare.

Reporting by Markus Wacket successful Berlin and Tom Sims successful Frankfurt Editing by David Evans and Frances Kerry

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