Norway, the scene of tales of shady espionage

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 27

Norway, the scene of tales of shady espionage

By

STELLA BUGGE

NZPA-Reuter Olso Norway’s open, easygoing society seems a remote setting for tales from the shady underworld of espionage that might be expected to unfold in Berlin or Vienna.

But the impression is false.

Western intelligence experts say that Norway, which forms N.A.T.O.’s northern flank and borders on the Soviet Union, is a target for spies. ‘‘Norway has become more important because of the Soviet strategic submarine fleet on the Kola peninsula just across our border,” said Oernulf Tofte, who last month retired as head of Norwegian counter-intelli-gence. In times of crisis, the Soviet fleet at Murmansk could sally forth to disrupt Atlantic shipping lanes, while nuclear submarines could slip out of the base to prowl the oceans.

It was Tofte who arrested Norway’s best known “mole,” Arne Treholt, in 1983. A former junior Minister, Treholt is now serving 20 years in jail after being convicted of spying for the K.G.B. for almost a decade.

In the last 11 years, Norway has expelled 35 Soviet diplomats on grounds of espionage but

intelligence sources say that the Soviets do not work alone in Norway. “Especially since the Treholt case, some of the N.A.T.O. allies keep a sharp watch on what is going on,” said one Oslobased intelligence source.

“The Western embassies have their own (espionage) people here because they feel they need to keep an eye on some areas of Norwegian policy about which they may feel some doubt.” Norway, a founding member of N.A.T.0., has declined to station foreign combat troops on its soil in peacetime and refuses to accept nuclear weapons.

The minority Labour Government is also firmly opposed to the plans of the United States President, Mr Ronald Reagan, for a space-based defence system, known as “star wars.”

Mr Tofte, who is softspoken and silver-haired, is a tall, stooping figure who weighs every word carefully and refuses to be drawn on many of the details of his shadowy former existence.

But he has little time for the policy of the Soviet leader, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, of “glasnost” (openness) and says it has not made the spycatcher’s job any easier. “In periods of detente,

spies are busier than ever,” said Mr Tofte, aged 65, who has netted about 100 agents in almost 40 years of service.

“If Gorbachev really wanted to be open about things, he could call home half of all his intelligence officers in Norway and probably still get the information he needs. “The Soviet embassy (in Norway) has 86 diplomats and seems heavily overstaffed. Our trade with the Soviet Union isn’t that extensive and they don’t need that many people,” Mr Tofte said. “We know exactly how many of them are spies,” he added, but declined to give a figure.

A recent survey conducted for Norwegian State radio showed some of the impact "glasnost” appears to have had in Norway. Almost one-third of those Interviewed said they had more confidence in Mr Gorbachev than Mr Reagan, while just under a quarter thought the opposite. “I don’t think it’s got any easier for the Soviets to recruit Norwegians, but Soviet agents are more socially active than when I started,” Mr Tofte said.

About 50 staff at various Soviet Bloc embassies have been expelled for “activities incompatible with their status” — a diplomatic euphemism for

spying — since the end of World War 11. Mr Tofte said he had also caught 50 Norwegians who had been recruited for Soviet intelligence. ,

Recruitment of Soviet agents in Norway seems to follow the regular pattern of espionage anywhere else in the world. “Recruitment of a new agent usually starts with informal lunches and small presents. They always try to involve money, and suddenly the person is in a situation where there is no way back,” Mr Tofte said. “In the old days, people were often recruited on the grounds of ideology, but today’s political situation is different from the post-war period.

"Now it’s more common to buy people. But, of course, they’re not averse to using blackmail if they have information about, for example, your sexual practices.” Norwegian intelligence co-ordinates its work with agencies from other N.A.T.O. countries in a special committee. But Mr Tofte says no matter how good the co-operation, counter-intelligence in Norway always has its hands full. “We’re no worse than any other Western , country at our job, There’s just always too much to do.”