BRUSSELS, October 30 (RAPSI) – In the aftermath of revelations of US surveillance carried out against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, lawmakers from Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) have reportedly urged the imperative that fugitive whiste-blower Edward Snowden should come forward with a testimony.

“Edward Snowden would be a valuable witness in the matter,”  SDP Secretary General Andrea Nales told several European news outlets.  She added that the lower house of Germany’s parliament should establish a special committee in order toinvestigate the scandal.

Citing secret US National Security Association (NSA) documents, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday that the NSA had carried out surveillance on Merkel’s mobile phone for more than 10 years, and that her cell phone number had been on a special list of an NSA unit known as the Special Collection Service (SCS), since 2002.

The report was based on documents leaked by Snowden, who formerly served as an NSA contractor and an employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). , The young whistleblower attracted international attention over the summer after he leaked classified evidence of US government surveillance programs to the media.

He fled to Hong Kong and then to Moscow, where he was granted temporary asylum in Russia despite repeated extradition demands from Washington. He is now living in an undisclosed location in Russia.