Espionage Eastern Europe

Does this old spy they called the Meister have more traitors and moles up his sleeve? Or were his confessions genuine, and this dumpy, former East German agent knows no more than he has admitted of secrets stolen and sold during his decade plumbing U.S. military sources in Berlin? Huseyin Yildirim, as he did in an interview with Life & Style in March, still insists he is empty of information.

Does this old spy they called the Meister have more traitors and moles up his sleeve? Or were his confessions genuine, and this dumpy, former East German agent knows no more than he has admitted of secrets stolen and sold during his decade plumbing U.S. military sources in Berlin? Huseyin Yildirim, as he did in an interview with Life & Style in March, still insists he is empty of information.

He is behind bars and barbed wire for what is left of his life; this round, soft, sly, sometimes funny, mostly sad, always hopeful little grandfather. This master spy they call the Meister. This human relic of the Cold War. This East German intelligence agent who stole America's military secrets for eight years and caused, in the still angry opinion of one American pursuer, more damage than any spy in the history of East-West tensions.

He is behind bars and barbed wire for what is left of his life; this round, soft, sly, sometimes funny, mostly sad, always hopeful little grandfather. This master spy they call the Meister. This human relic of the Cold War. This East German intelligence agent who stole America's military secrets for eight years and caused, in the still angry opinion of one American pursuer, more damage than any spy in the history of East-West tensions.

West German police, following the arrest a week ago of a government secretary on espionage charges, have arrested 15 more people in a search for suspected spies that has now spread to a number of cities. The hunt began after Elke Falk, 44, was arrested on charges of spying for the East Bloc. She had been a secretary in the Economic Cooperation Ministry in Bonn and had also worked as a secretary in the chancellor's headquarters from 1974 to 1977.

The Warsaw Pact spies coming in from the cold have something new to offer. Now out of work as many of their countries turn toward democracy, some East European agents, in hopes of making deals for themselves in the West, are beginning to sell out their old "assets"--U.S. and other Western recruits. "It's an unnerving time to be an agent--for the other side," said a senior FBI counterintelligence official. "Someone (from East Europe) might just walk in with their files, wanting to do a deal."

The United States has won the Cold War. Now, slowly and methodically, it is collecting prisoners. When FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts was arrested Wednesday and charged with spying for Moscow, he became the latest casualty of a continuing post-Cold War espionage sweep by America's spy hunters, sources said Thursday. The investigations have dragged on for years since communism's collapse, but U.S.

A former Army sergeant accused of breaching U.S. and NATO security by videotaping military secrets for delivery to Eastern European countries was ordered held without bond Tuesday, pending trial on espionage charges. Roderick James Ramsay, 28, who was an assistant documents custodian for the 8th Infantry Division in West Germany, said nothing during the five-minute detention hearing. "Based on the information and testimony presented last Friday, there is probable cause to hold the defendant . .

A federal judge in Savannah, Ga., sentenced convicted spy Huseyin Yildirim to life in prison for turning over U.S. military secrets to agents for Eastern Bloc governments. Yildirim, 61, a Turkish national, was convicted July 21 on charges of conspiring to commit espionage against the United States and of acting as a courier for convicted spy and former Army Warrant Officer James W. Hall III. Yildirim, who did not testify at his trial, told U.S. District Judge B.

Spy buffs and thriller writers discouraged by the vanished Berlin Wall and dying ideologies, take heart: There's life in the old Cold War yet. The East German Stasi is gone, the Soviet KGB is reduced to running beauty contests and Bulgarian umbrellas with poisoned tips are out of stock. But just when the plotting gets really rough, to the rescue ride NATO and the CIA.

The United States has won the Cold War. Now, slowly and methodically, it is collecting prisoners. When FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts was arrested Wednesday and charged with spying for Moscow, he became the latest casualty of a continuing post-Cold War espionage sweep by America's spy hunters, sources said Thursday. The investigations have dragged on for years since communism's collapse, but U.S.

Spy buffs and thriller writers discouraged by the vanished Berlin Wall and dying ideologies, take heart: There's life in the old Cold War yet. The East German Stasi is gone, the Soviet KGB is reduced to running beauty contests and Bulgarian umbrellas with poisoned tips are out of stock. But just when the plotting gets really rough, to the rescue ride NATO and the CIA.

The Warsaw Pact spies coming in from the cold have something new to offer. Now out of work as many of their countries turn toward democracy, some East European agents, in hopes of making deals for themselves in the West, are beginning to sell out their old "assets"--U.S. and other Western recruits. "It's an unnerving time to be an agent--for the other side," said a senior FBI counterintelligence official. "Someone (from East Europe) might just walk in with their files, wanting to do a deal."

A former Army sergeant accused of breaching U.S. and NATO security by videotaping military secrets for delivery to Eastern European countries was ordered held without bond Tuesday, pending trial on espionage charges. Roderick James Ramsay, 28, who was an assistant documents custodian for the 8th Infantry Division in West Germany, said nothing during the five-minute detention hearing. "Based on the information and testimony presented last Friday, there is probable cause to hold the defendant . .

A federal judge in Savannah, Ga., sentenced convicted spy Huseyin Yildirim to life in prison for turning over U.S. military secrets to agents for Eastern Bloc governments. Yildirim, 61, a Turkish national, was convicted July 21 on charges of conspiring to commit espionage against the United States and of acting as a courier for convicted spy and former Army Warrant Officer James W. Hall III. Yildirim, who did not testify at his trial, told U.S. District Judge B.

West German police, following the arrest a week ago of a government secretary on espionage charges, have arrested 15 more people in a search for suspected spies that has now spread to a number of cities. The hunt began after Elke Falk, 44, was arrested on charges of spying for the East Bloc. She had been a secretary in the Economic Cooperation Ministry in Bonn and had also worked as a secretary in the chancellor's headquarters from 1974 to 1977.