EXTENT OF GERMAN SPY SWAP IS UNCERTAIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202410003-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: October 3, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-06552R000202410003-1
ART) il^",' A
ON
PACE A.-,
BALT.tr:02E SL U
3 October 1981
'I Communists-released -
Bonn Bureau of The Sun saying.
Y F
By Susannah Kirkman one chancellory official was quoted as
0 one co beUeve that
u
d
20 to 30 prisoners to West Germany as the small fat-man, who was considered
part of the exchange deal. - ._ "embarrassingly limited intellectually"
In addition, the Ministry for Inter-Ger. by his boss,, was one of the best-placed
man Relations said that as. many as 3,000 agents ever uncovered in West Germany.
East Germans would be reunited.-with , Chancellor Brandt: was seriously com-
their families in the West as a resultof the- promised., by,. his, blind "trust in his aide.
deal. ..Guillaume had betrayed top North Atlan-
Contrary to reports in the West Gee tic Treaty Organization. secrets, including
nman- press, "informed sources said yester a letter from . President Nixon to Mr.
d
th
about the extent of the spy, swap, thought ., An East German army officer, Guil-
to be one of the largest ever. laume arrived- in West Germany as a
A West German government spokes= .`refugee" in 1955 with his wife. After be-
man said that the deal did not measure up coming an Social Democratic Party mem-
to government expectations ' and blamed ber in 1957, he rose rapidly, joining the
premature leaks that'have been circulat- -- chancellory in 1970 and becoming Willy
ing all.week- _ Brandt's aide in 1972.
Bonn has handed' over four Communist Although he was under close surveil.' 11
according to. informed sources, lance during the eleven months before his
They include Renate Lutze, a former sec- arrest in April, 1974, Guillaume was al-
-retary at the Defense Ministry, and Guil- lowed to keep his position as Mr. Brandt's
laume, whose unmasking led to the resig- closest assistant. -
nation of Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1974. The news of his treachery was a politi-
East Germany is said to have released cal bombshell N
1
parole at the end of next year, after serv- His commitment to Third World strate-
ing two-thirds of his sentence, seems to gies, involving material concessions and
have produced a change of heart, "- "- -, - - reduction of armaments by the major
Another reason for his release is said to powers, is close to the -wishes and de-
be his serious kidney illness. -"You don't --, mands of young pacifists disenchanted
get anything in exchange, for a corpse,":_-, with Mr. Schmidt'spragmatism.
,
ov
e
guarantee
The exchange comes several weeks be; " of.allied access to West Berlin and the es-
fore Chancellor Helmut Schmidt- is ,.:tor - tablishment `of diplomatic relations be-
meet Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev .tween the two German states. and East German leader Erich Honecker?- However, Mr. Brandt has not only lived
The spy swap is seen as a further step down the ' old scandal, but has recently
towards improving ties between the--two. ' staged a vigorous comeback as party lead-
German states. Relations suffered a ter- ... er. He has been tipped as the next chancel-
rifle setback last October, when East Ger for if Helmut Schmidt is. forced to resign
many drastically increased -currency ex-'.:.over his support for the NATO decision to
change requirements for Western visitors, station, medium-range nuclear missiles in
reducing by half the number of West Ger- West Germany.'
mars traveling to the Communist state. = - :` Asa Nobel Peace Prize winner and ini-
The West German government bad pre- tiator of the North-South dialogue, Willy
viously refused to pardon Guillaume in an Brandt has- a lat_ge following among left-
attempt to make an example of him--The wing opponents to Chancellor Schmidt's
fact that he would have been eligible for-- defense licies "
Karl Carstens Monday after, serving 7%
years of a 13-year ?sentencer He returned-
to East Germany Thursday. ;
,
Meyer and Alexei Koslov, who are serving
sentences in France, Denmark and South
Africa, respectively-
. The most valuable bargaining chip,
Guillaume, was pardoned. by President
ay
at the exchange did not include East Brandt criticizing rifts in the NATO al-
German spies Heinz-Bernhard Zorn
Jorg liance.
Bann-Two. days after the return of leased in March before the end of her
. The chancellor took responsibility for
negligence in the Guillaume affair and re-
signed two weeks after his assistant's ar-
rest. Ministers wept as Mr. Brandt an-
nounced -his decision to the cabinet.
Ironically, this political disaster fol-
lowed'the successes of Mr- Brandt's "Ost-
politik
" which led to the S
i
t
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000202410003-1