BERLIN, May 18 (UPI) -- Germany's former intelligence chief, now a top government diplomat, may have to resign if it transpires he knew of the BND's practice of spying on journalists.
Until late 2005, August Hanning headed Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, or BND; he now is deputy interior minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition government.
"If Hanning knew about the spying on journalist Andreas Foerster, then he will not be savable," an unidentified member of government told Thursday's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Foerster, an investigative journalist at the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, has published material critical of the BND and continues to research the service. It recently emerged that the BND were actively spying on a number of German journalists critical of the service, including Foerster.
Hanning and his successor, Ernst Uhrlau, have repeatedly said they did not know Foerster was spied upon.
The BND reportedly also studied the phone and fax records of publisher Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, who published a book about the BND that included sensitive material, in a bid to find the leak inside the service.
The allegations were first delivered in a 170-page report to a parliamentary commission overseeing the intelligence services. Although the commission meets in secret, the report's contents were leaked to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Lawmakers have since called for the report to be declassified.
The German parliament has scheduled an open discussion among lawmakers about the ongoing affair for Friday.
