W. German ‘spy’ caught smartly

Press, 13 December 1986, Page 12

W. German ‘spy’ caught smartly

NZPA-Reuter Bonn A high-ranking West German official arrested on suspicion of spying for East Berlin appears to have been caught before he could cause any serious damage to national security, according to senior Bonn officials. The man, a 48-year-old civilian physicist who worked for the Ministry of Defence, was arrested on Tuesday after a military intelligence investigation. Officials have named him

only as Juergen W. and said he worked in the Ministry’s central policy staff department.

The Minister of Defence, Manfred Woerner, said yesterday that the suspect did not appear to have passed on any secrets to East Germany. “He doesn’t seem to have been a big fish; although the Federal Prosecutor is still investigating,” he said.

“It appears he was recruited but did not deliver any material.”

The Federal Prosecutor, Kurt Rebmann, said no formal charges had yet been laid against the man. He said the physicist was recruited by an agent believed to work for the East German Ministry of State Security at a meeting in Vienna last August. Security sources said the man had been under observation since the agent approached him. The agent, who offered him up to 3000 marks ($3000) a month, identi-

fied himself as a Dr Sternberg and claimed he was employed by a U.S. arms firm based in Britain, the sources said.

Ministry of Defence sources said the physicist had been working on a system designed to give compatibility to the different computers used by the Armed Forces. He was also involved in long-term administration and planning, which could have been of value for the Eastern bloc, they added.