Magazine alleges CIA spies on enemies, friends

BERLIN, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. spies have been spying on their counterparts in East Germany and West Germany, recently released documents indicate.

The CIA was expected to monitor East German spies during the Cold War, but U.S. documents indicated Americans were spying on their allies in West Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst as well, The Local reported Monday.

The German magazine Focus said documents indicated office alliances, personal peccadilloes and health information were noted.

The spying continued into the 1990s, even after the fall of communism, with BND agents with a Nazi past drawing attention, the magazine reported.

Focus said the documents indicated telephone calls with Germany's domestic intelligence and security authority were tapped, as were conversations with other security services in Paris and London.

BND said they weren't surprised by the news they were being spied on by the CIA.

A former BND counterintelligence expert told Focus he and colleagues often thought such clandestine operations were undertaken.

"The cat does not let the mouse free," the former spy said when asked if he thought the CIA were still spying on the BND.