CIA Had E.German Spy Tally

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Report: CIA Had East German Spy Tally
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. government obtained a complete set of secret spy records from East Germany in a move considered one of the greatest triumphs of Cold War espionage shortly after the fall of that country's communist government, The Washington Post reported.

The files contained the names and other information about citizens of the United States, Britain and West Germany who worked for the foreign operations wing of the East German state security organization known as the Stasi, the newspaper said in Sunday editions.

Information from the files was used to convict two people -- Theresa Marie Squillacote and Kurt Alan Stand -- of espionage in Virginia earlier this month, according to court records.

The Post quoted unidentified sources as saying the CIA obtained the files after high-ranking East German officials removed them from Stasi officers in Berlin and hid them sometime before the Berlin Wall fell.

The German government earlier this month made its latest request that the United States return the files. German intelligence officials have reviewed the records at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on several occasions, the Post said.

The Post said U.S. government officials have unofficially confirmed that the CIA is holding the files. But an agency spokesman refused to acknowledged this, it said, and White House officials would not discuss the files.

A CIA officer told the newspaper that details about the files remain secret because disclosure could endanger the lives of anyone who was involved in helping the agency obtain them.

_AP-NY-11-22-98 0005EST

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