The German government is kicking the United States' top intelligence official in Berlin out of the country.
The move comes amid new allegations the US has been recruiting German intelligence officers as double-agents.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the decision also comes after months of unanswered questions from the US government about revelations the National Security Agency tapped her own cellphone.
"If what is currently discussed corresponds to the facts, and a lot is still being investigated by the federal prosecutor-general, then I simply want to say that looking at it with common sense, in my view, spying on allies is a waste of energy in the end. We have so many problems, and I think we should concentrate on the essentials."
Earlier this month a German intelligence official was arrested for allegedly passing on information to US intelligence about a German parliamentary investigation into the cellphone hacking charges.
That arrest has been followed by a reported investigation into a German Defense Department official who may have also been passing on information to the United States.
So far the Obama administration has said little on the issue, other than to say it does want to work with Berlin to help rectify the situation.
