Alleged NSA post in Austria becomes state affair

(AP) Vienna's a fabled city for spying — and now its cloak-and-dagger legend has a 21st-century twist.

A stately villa in a leafy district of the Austrian capital is at the center of a ruckus over whether the NSA is snooping on the city's residents, with allegations flying that the building serves as a sophisticated a U.S. intelligence listening post.

Both the U.S. and Austrian governments deny reports claiming to expose a major surveillance operation by the National Security Agency from within the towers of the sprawling manor. The U.S. Embassy says the building is an "Open Source Center" evaluating information freely available in newspapers and on the Internet. Such centers are run by the CIA.

Many are skeptical in a country shocked by revelations by NSA leaker Edward Snowden that the organization has been able to spy on the online activities of millions around the world. The Viennese are also mindful of the city's Cold War reputation as the spying capital of the world — an outpost for eavesdropping by both sides of the divide.

With passions high over the NSA, Austrians question the need for any kind of U.S. intelligence gathering in their capital, including open source centers.

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