Spy Crisis Threatens Inter-German Ties

East German authorities warned Thursday that relations with West Germany will suffer if the Bonn government does not allow an East German official suspected of spying to return home.

The official, Herbert Meissner, 59, deputy chairman of East Germany’s National Academy of Sciences, is holed up at his government’s diplomatic mission in Bonn.

A West German prosecutor has issued a warrant for Meissner’s arrest on charges of spying for the past half-dozen years. The East Germans deny the charge and contend that Meissner was kidnaped by the West Germans, then escaped to the East German diplomatic mission.

In East Berlin, Deputy Foreign Minister Herbert Krolikowski told the West German permanent representative, Hans-Otto Braeutigam, that his government will hold Bonn responsible for any damage to relations between the countries growing out of the Meissner incident.

Attempt to ‘Strain Relations’

“In view of the behavior of (West Germany),” the East German news agency quoted Krolikowski as saying, “one must conclude that certain circles intentionally want to strain relations. The (West German) government will be responsible for any consequence of this.”

The East Germans say that Meissner, an economist, was kidnaped while on a visit to West Berlin and taken to the offices of the West German intelligence agency in a suburb of Munich for interrogation.

Meissner managed to escape, the East Germans say, and make his way to Bonn, where he sought refuge in the diplomatic mission.

But the Bonn government says the East Germans allowed Meissner to cross over into West Berlin because he was engaged in espionage in the divided city. He was arrested in West Berlin earlier this month, the West Germans say, in the act of stealing a shower tap.

Embarrassment or Remorse

Out of embarrassment or remorse, they say, Meissner then offered to cooperate with the West German intelligence agency and was taken to Munich for questioning. There he apparently changed his mind, West German sources say, escaped and made his way to the East German mission.

No one has spelled out how Meissner managed to get from Berlin to Bonn, but West German authorities say there would be no reason to hold a cooperative East German against his will in Munich. Meissner, they say, could simply have come here by plane or train.

An aide to Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Wolfgang Schaueble, said in a radio interview Thursday that Bonn wishes to prevent the incident from causing any damage to inter-German relations.

He added, however, that political considerations will not be allowed to override the legal procedures under which a federal prosecutor issued a warrant Wednesday for Meissner’s detention while the espionage charge is being investigated.

Ottfried Henning, a senior West German official involved in inter-German relations, said the Bonn government would like to arrange a meeting with Meissner in the East German mission’s offices to discuss the charges and countercharges and determine whether the economist really wants to return to East Germany.

The East German mission is on the main highway leading south out of Bonn, and traffic along the highway was delayed repeatedly Thursday by police roadblocks.