Two arrested in Germany accused of spying for Syria

Feb 7, 2012, 16:41 GMT

Berlin - German authorities arrested two men in Berlin Tuesday on espionage charges, accusing them of monitoring Syrian exiles over a period of years, federal prosecutors said.

Some 70 police searched the homes of the pair and of six other suspects to collect further evidence about the alleged spy ring, which was believed to be reporting to a Syrian intelligence agency on the activities of exiled dissidents.

The Syrian ambassador to Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed a protest at surveillance of Syrian dissidents on German soil, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

The envoy was told that Germany would not tolerate the intimidation of exiled Syrians. Official figures show more than 32,000 Syrian citizens live in Germany.

The prosecutors identified the detained men as Mahmoud El A, aged 47, who has both Lebanese and German nationality, and Akram O, a 34-year-old Syrian national. Their surnames were not released.

The suspects had been under surveillance by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Security sources said neither of the two detained men was an employee at the Syrian embassy.

Germany has urged the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad to step down after months of pro-democracy protests and unrest that have left at least 5,400 dead, according to the United Nations.

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