Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday stressed the importance of the German-US alliance, saying that an ongoing debate on whether to grant Edward Snowden asylum must not hamper bilateral ties.
"The chancellor believes she has an obligation to protect the data and privacy of German citizens from illegal monitoring and she is working to reestablish trust with the United States and put in place clear rules for future cooperation," Xinhua quoted Merkel's spokesperson Steffen Seibert as saying.
The comments come as increasingly louder voices from German opposition call for granting asylum to Snowden so that the former US spy agency contractor could travel to Germany to testify.
