BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - In view of a report on Russian plans to attack the head of Rheinmetall, calls for more powers for the German security authorities are growing louder again. Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) has made corresponding demands. Politicians from the traffic light coalition rejected this.

According to information from the US broadcaster CNN, the plot against the Rheinmetall boss was uncovered not by German but by American intelligence services.

CDU interior ministers demand more powers for services

Schuster told the "Bild" newspaper: "I have a massive problem with the fact that we constantly need information from abroad." The security authorities there have "the instruments with which they gain this knowledge, for which I cannot find a political majority here in Germany".

North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) told the Bild newspaper: "We have to get ahead of the situation, early information is the core of the whole business."

In the view of Schuster and the CDU/CSU, the following are necessary: data retention, i.e. the storage of location and traffic data of telecommunications without cause in order to have it available for anti-terror investigations if necessary; so-called source telecommunications surveillance (source TKÜ), which takes effect before encryption or after decryption; and online searches. Schuster said: "These are the methods why the Americans can give us valuable information. But if we are not allowed to do anything - I think it is highly risky to have to rely on intelligence from abroad again and again."

Report: Plans uncovered

According to CNN, US intelligence agencies uncovered plans by the Russian government to assassinate Armin Papperger, the CEO of Germany's largest arms manufacturer, at the beginning of the year. The German side was then informed and the 61-year-old was given special protection. Rheinmetall is one of the largest European suppliers of tank technology and artillery shells for Ukraine. In June, the company opened a repair workshop for infantry fighting vehicles in western Ukraine. The production of new tanks is also planned. The Kremlin denied alleged plans for an attack.

Traffic light politicians reject demands

Data retention has been controversial for many years, with the FDP and Greens in particular rejecting it. FDP interior politician Manuel Hoferlin told dpa: "The reflexive call for old and unsuitable surveillance instruments such as data retention does not help if you want to strengthen security. The case of the attack plans on the Rheinmetall boss in particular shows that other and more targeted findings are needed than the unprovoked storage of all login data of all people in Germany."

Traffic light wants reform

Konstantin von Notz, deputy leader of the Green parliamentary group, said that the traffic light coalition was working on a comprehensive reform of the law governing intelligence services. SPD politician Jens Zimmermann also pointed this out: The CDU/CSU should also take note of the fact that the Federal Constitutional Court has set clear limits on the work of the services, he said. Von Notz said that the legal situation and the case law of the high courts were much more differentiated than the blanket thesis that security authorities in Germany were subject to tougher restrictions than in other constitutional states.