Germany's justice minister on Tuesday fired the chief prosecutor in an escalating row sparked by a controversial treason case against a blog accused of revealing state secrets.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said he had "lost confidence" in the chief prosecutor, Harald Range, who earlier launched a probe into a blog that had published documents of the domestic security agency.

Maas said he had told the 67-year-old chief prosecutor that, with the backing of Chancellor Angela Merkel, he would ask President Joachim Gauck to send him into early retirement.