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A diplomatic row was looming over Europe last night following allegations that America has been listening into the phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her government yesterday said it took the allegations �extremely seriously� after media reports said the National Security Agency had hacked into her mobile phone �for years�. �We swiftly sent a request to our American partners asking for an immediate and comprehensive clarification,� her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.�If true, this practice must be stopped immediately.� He added that Mrs Merkel had made it clear to Barack Obama that if the information proved correct it would be �completely unacceptable� and a �grave breach of trust�.The news that the government of the world�s most powerful man had eavesdropped on the phone messages of the world�s most powerful woman � his staunch ally � set alarms ringing on both continents. Germany�s BND spy agency is investigating what took place, but the fact that the government has publicly demanded clarification is evidence, said experts, that there is a �strong belief� that the hacking claim is true. The White House said that Mr Obama and Mrs Merkel spoke on the phone last night about the allegation. Mrs Merkel called the US President to seek an explanation and get his assurance that the claims were not true.Mr Obama promised her US intelligence was not listening to her communications, and would not in future. But the White House did not explicitly rule out the possibility that her communications had been monitored in the past.