US using wild west methods to divert German medical orders: Berlin's top security official

PressTV | April 3, 2020:  Berlin’s top security official has accused Washington of using “wild west methods” to divert and obtain a delivery of face masks originally destined for the German capital. Berlin State Interior Minister Andreas Geisel denounced the diversion of the masks as an “act of modern piracy,” Reuters reported on Friday.

The reported added that German media had reported that thousands of masks purchased from manufacturer 3M had been diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand en route from China.

German officials have confirmed that about 200,000 FFP2 masks — an equivalent of the US N95 mask standard — were seized at a Bangkok airport and did not reach their destined location.

The officials said that the masks had already been paid for by Germany.

“This is no way to treat trans-Atlantic partners,” Geisel said in his remarks addressing Washington on Friday. “Even in times of global crisis, there should be no wild west methods.”

The Berlin official added that the German government should demand that the US respect international rules.

Reuters said the US Embassy in Berlin did not immediately provide any comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, Israel’s notorious Mossad spy agency has also been running operations to redirect medical supplies ordered by countries fighting the coronavirus outbreak into Israel, according to Israeli media reports.

Mossad sneaking COVID-19 medical stocks - ordered by others - into Israel: Senior official

Press TV | April 3, 2020:  Israel’s spy agency Mossad has been running clandestine operations to sneak the medical supplies ordered by countries fighting the coronavirus outbreak into Israel, a senior Mossad official has revealed.

The head of Mossad’s technology department, identified only as “Het,” made the revelation in an exposé aired by Israel’s Channel 12 “Uvda” investigative news program earlier this week, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Het said that Tel Aviv had ordered Mossad to procure up to 130,000 objects related to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel, ranging from protective gear to test kits, medicine, and ventilators.

“I have overseen many operations in my life, and I’ve never dealt with such a complex operation,” the Mossad officer remarked.

He claimed that countries are locked in a covert battle to take control of a limited supply of ventilators needed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are utilizing our special connections to win the race,” he said, adding that the spy agency was trying to do so by trying to “lay our hands on stocks ordered by others.”

The report did not disclose in which countries Mossad was running those operations.

Similar reports of Israel using its notorious Mossad spy agency to obtain medical supplies amid the global pandemic have prompted observers to question Israel’s means of acquiring the supplies.

See Also: ‘America First’: Covid-19 exposes cracks in Trans-Atlantic solidarity as US snatches up France-bound masks