W. Germany Admits ‘Small’ Spy Exchange

The government acknowledged today that a “small” spy swap took place this month between East and West Germany but dismissed published reports that a much larger exchange involving Americans was in the works.

Government spokesman Friedhelm Ost told reporters a trade took place on Dec. 4. He refused to say where it occurred or how many people were involved. Reliable Bonn government sources, however, said one convicted East German agent, Guenter Wiedemann, was released from a West German prison in exchange for two West German intelligence agents who were jailed in East Germany.

The swap was reported earlier today by the mass circulation Bild newspaper, which said it involved three agents but was kept quiet to protect a much larger deal in which up to 12 agents, including Americans, might be freed from Soviet and East German jails.

Ost dismissed that aspect of the Bild report as pure speculation and refused to give further information on the Dec. 4 swap. “It is government policy not to issue statements on sensitive, humanitarian matters,” he said.

Bild, quoting a senior government official, said, “According to our information, up to 12 agents of the United States, England and West Germany will be swapped for an unknown number of Eastern spies serving long terms of imprisonment in the West.”