German spy affair might have been revenge

Kosovo police claim they have a video showing a German spy tossing an explosive charge over a wall at a European Union building in the Kosovo capital of Pristina. The video, however, hasn't been released, and the German government -- in a controversy that has roiled relations between Berlin and Kosovo -- has vehemently denied the charges.

"The idea that the German government could be involved in terrorist attacks abroad is absurd," German government spokesman Thomas Steg told a news conference on Monday.

 

Three German citizens were detained for 30 days in Kosovo after questioning last Saturday in connection with a minor nighttime explosion at the International Civilian Office, where the EU's Special representative Pieter Feith is charged with overseeing Kosovo's new government.

 

SPIEGEL has information suggesting the men, reportedly ranging in age from 41 to 47, are indeed agents of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND. Kosovo claims they have no diplomatic passports, and other German media have reported that the men were "borrowed" from the German military, which has forces in the area. The German government has not clarified who they are. It admits they were outside the building on November 14, but says they were inspecting the scene of the crime.

The German government is also aware of a video related to the crime, but claims no faces are visible.

Anti-European Radicals?

In the absence of clear facts, both sides are playing a game of diplomatic denial and accusation. Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has said, "No one has an interest in politicizing this affair," while the BND itself claims extremist elements in Kosovo were behind the attack. Some elements of the Pristina government oppose any foreign involvement, the BND argues, so the attack may have been the work of the anti-European radicals.

But the German parliament wants details. Max Stadler, deputy chairman of a commission that oversees the BND, told the International Herald Tribune on Monday that "Germany supports EU policy in Kosovo and as such it would make no sense to attack the EU building in Pristina." But he added, "These are public charges of a grave nature. Even if, as I hope and believe, there is nothing to this, the (German) government should clarify it."

Germany has been one of the strongest supporters of Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. Russia and Serbia have refused to recognize the new government, but Berlin has promised €100 million in development aid over the next two years.

The BND is active in Kosovo, possibly to keep track of where the aid money goes. BND reports have suggested that Kosovo's new government is rife with organized crime.

The attack in Pristina on November 14 shattered windows in the building but hurt no one. It came four days after Kosovo's leaders rejected a plan by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the deployment of an EU police and justice mission called EULEX.

EULEX is meant to take over some duties from UN peacekeepers, who have occupied Kosovo since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign which ended a brutal Serbian crackdown on Kosovo's Albanian separatists

The three Germans were arrested Wednesday in Kosovo are agents for the Germany Federal Intelligence Agency (BND), Der Spiegel newsmagazine and the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Saturday.

The Germans were arrested by Kosovar police in connection with an attack on the European Union's headquarters in Pristina on Nov. 14. No one was hurt in the explosion and indications of the attack's background or possible motives remain unclear.

The suspects were in Kosovo "in a private capacity" and had no immunity from prosecution, police spokesman Veton Elshani told the German news agency dpa.

None of the German trio were "diplomats, police, soldiers or experts with international identification," Kosovar investigators said on Friday.

The alleged spies said they were simply inspecting damage done by the bomb's explosion and were not involved in the attack, according to the Spiegel report.

One of the men told Kosovar authorities he was working for the BND, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Opposition wants details

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Parliamentarians want to know exactly what the Germans were doing in Pristina

A German government spokesman declined to speculate about the possible involvement of Berlin's security services (BND) in the case on Friday and instead pointed to the ongoing investigations.

German politicians in the opposition have called for the government to inform a parliamentary oversight committee.

"The status has to be made clear," Max Stadler, the free-market liberal FDP's expert for interior affairs, told dpa on Saturday, adding that lawmakers needed to be informed regardless of whether there was sufficient material to charge the Germans.

Governments usually register their intelligence agents with foreign authorities to ensure they are covered by diplomatic immunity. Berlin failed to accredit the three agents, leaving their legal status in Kosovo unclear, according to Der Spiegel.

An EU mission is due to take over the oversight of law-enforcement in Kosovo after more than eight years of a United Nations protectorate.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February. Pristina, Belgrade, the UN and EU are currently wrangling over the conditions for the deployment of the EU mission, the Eulex, comprising 2,000 police, judicial and customs officials.

Relations between Europe's biggest economy and the tiny former Serb province that Germany is helping to rebuild have been under a cloud since the arrest of three Germans in connection with the blast.

The men are agents of Germany's foreign intelligence service BND, according to German and Albanian media, although neither the German government nor the BND would confirm this.

A judge in Kosovo has ordered the trio to remain in investigative custody for 30 days on terrorism charges related to the Nov. 14 blast, which damaged the EU headquarters in the Kosovo capital.

German officials were outraged when the men, wearing handcuffs, were hauled before the television cameras on their way to prison after the court hearing at the weekend.

"The idea that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany could be involved in terrorist attacks is absurd," government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Monday, also ruling out involvement by government agencies like the BND.

No one is above the law, says Thaci suspected War Criminal and wanted by INTERPOL

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Thaci defended his country's actions and judiciary

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci defended the behavior of the territory's judiciary as well as that of the security services, who had reportedly been shadowing the Germans for months.

"No one is above the law ... The rule of law in Kosovo should be respected in its entirety, regardless of its national background. We should believe in the judicial bodies, and therefore should not have any prejudice or political assessments," he said.

The three Germans were not registered as intelligence agents, according to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu. Sources said they were undercover operatives working for a BND front company called Logistic Coordination Assessment Services.

There are conflicting reports as to how they were caught. One version is they were spotted fleeing the scene after one of them tossed an explosive device at the EU office from an adjacent, empty building.

They were arrested five days later after a search of their home turned up weapons and incriminating documents, including a sketch of the premises, which houses the European Union's Special Representative for the region.

Lawyers for the men, aged between 41 and 47, were quoted in German media as saying the trio was not involved in the attack but went to the scene "out of curiosity" four hours after the blast to take photographs.

Kosovo's Koha Ditore daily said police were looking into a possible link between the attack and similar bombings in 2007, targeting the UN Mission in Kosovo, the office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Kosovo assembly building.

No injuries occurred in any of the attacks but there are similarities, such as the use of TNT and the make-up of the explosive device.

German press speculates on anti-EU cell

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Some Kosovar Serbs resent the EU for its support of Kosovo's independence

Germany's mass-circulation newspaper Bild speculated the blast was the work of an anti-EU faction in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February after nine years under UN protection.

Four days before the bomb attack, the Albanian majority in Kosovo rejected a deal between the UN and Serbia for the EU police and justice mission EULEX to take over administration of the territory's law enforcement operations.

German officials are wondering how the affair managed to escalate the way it did, especially in view of the fact that Berlin has been a prominent backer of Kosovo's independence and is its biggest financial donor after the United States.

Usually in cases involving intelligence-gathering actives, foreign agents that run foul of domestic authorities are quietly ordered to leave the country away from the glare of publicity.

Relations between Europe's biggest economy and the tiny former Serb province that Germany is helping to rebuild have been under a cloud since the arrest of three Germans in connection with the blast.

The men are agents of Germany's foreign intelligence service BND, according to German and Albanian media, although neither the German government nor the BND would confirm this.

A judge in Kosovo has ordered the trio to remain in investigative custody for 30 days on terrorism charges related to the Nov. 14 blast, which damaged the EU headquarters in the Kosovo capital.

German officials were outraged when the men, wearing handcuffs, were hauled before the television cameras on their way to prison after the court hearing at the weekend.

"The idea that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany could be involved in terrorist attacks is absurd," government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Monday, also ruling out involvement by government agencies like the BND.

No one is above the law, says Thaci suspected War Criminal and wanted by INTERPOL

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Thaci defended his country's actions and judiciary

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci defended the behavior of the territory's judiciary as well as that of the security services, who had reportedly been shadowing the Germans for months.

"No one is above the law ... The rule of law in Kosovo should be respected in its entirety, regardless of its national background. We should believe in the judicial bodies, and therefore should not have any prejudice or political assessments," he said.

The three Germans were not registered as intelligence agents, according to Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu. Sources said they were undercover operatives working for a BND front company called Logistic Coordination Assessment Services.

There are conflicting reports as to how they were caught. One version is they were spotted fleeing the scene after one of them tossed an explosive device at the EU office from an adjacent, empty building.

They were arrested five days later after a search of their home turned up weapons and incriminating documents, including a sketch of the premises, which houses the European Union's Special Representative for the region.

Lawyers for the men, aged between 41 and 47, were quoted in German media as saying the trio was not involved in the attack but went to the scene "out of curiosity" four hours after the blast to take photographs.

Kosovo's Koha Ditore daily said police were looking into a possible link between the attack and similar bombings in 2007, targeting the UN Mission in Kosovo, the office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Kosovo assembly building.

No injuries occurred in any of the attacks but there are similarities, such as the use of TNT and the make-up of the explosive device.

German press speculates on anti-EU cell

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Some Kosovar Serbs resent the EU for its support of Kosovo's independence

Germany's mass-circulation newspaper Bild speculated the blast was the work of an anti-EU faction in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February after nine years under UN protection.

Four days before the bomb attack, the Albanian majority in Kosovo rejected a deal between the UN and Serbia for the EU police and justice mission EULEX to take over administration of the territory's law enforcement operations.

German officials are wondering how the affair managed to escalate the way it did, especially in view of the fact that Berlin has been a prominent backer of Kosovo's independence and is its biggest financial donor after the United States.

Usually in cases involving intelligence-gathering actives, foreign agents that run foul of domestic authorities are quietly ordered to leave the country away from the glare of publicity.