Germany Arrests US Citizen over Accusations of Spying for China

The sun sets behind the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The sun sets behind the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
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Germany Arrests US Citizen over Accusations of Spying for China

The sun sets behind the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The sun sets behind the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Germany’s federal prosecutor office said it arrested an American citizen on Thursday who allegedly spied for China, The Associated Press reported.
The office said that the suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt and that his home was being searched.
The accused, who until recently worked for the US Armed Forces in Germany, is strongly suspected of having agreed to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service, the statement said.
Earlier this year, he contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to transmit sensitive information from the US military to a Chinese intelligence service, according to an investigation by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
He had obtained the information in question in the course of his work in the US army, the prosecutor’s statement said, without giving any further information.
German investigators have exposed several people suspected of spying for China this year.
Last month, German authorities arrested a Chinese national accused of passing information on a major air freight hub to a man who is suspected of spying for China.
And in April, a man who worked for a prominent German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.



France, Israel at Loggerheads after French Officials Briefly Arrested in Jerusalem

Macron and Netanyahu (illustrative). (photo credit: Bertrand Guay/Reuters, Canva, REUTERS/Nir Elias/Pool)
Macron and Netanyahu (illustrative). (photo credit: Bertrand Guay/Reuters, Canva, REUTERS/Nir Elias/Pool)
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France, Israel at Loggerheads after French Officials Briefly Arrested in Jerusalem

Macron and Netanyahu (illustrative). (photo credit: Bertrand Guay/Reuters, Canva, REUTERS/Nir Elias/Pool)
Macron and Netanyahu (illustrative). (photo credit: Bertrand Guay/Reuters, Canva, REUTERS/Nir Elias/Pool)

France accused Israel on Thursday of harming bilateral ties after Israeli security forces entered a holy site under French administration in Jerusalem and briefly detained two French officials with diplomatic status.
The incident occurred as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the compound of The Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives. The site, one of four administered by France in Jerusalem, is under Paris' responsibility and deemed part of France, said Reuters.
French diplomatic sources said Israeli security had been told not to enter before Barrot's visit.
However, they did so and as a consequence Barrot refused to enter the compound, called Eleona in French, while they were present. Two French security officials were then briefly arrested, the sources said, adding that the Israelis were aware the two were from the consulate and had diplomatic status.
Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement that an argument arose between the Israeli security forces and two French security guards. They were released immediately after they identified themselves as diplomats, it said.
The dispute casts a shadow over diplomatic relations that are already strained over Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
"This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks undermining the ties I had come to nurture with Israel at a time when we all need to move forward the region on the path to peace", a visibly angry Barrot told reporters outside the building.
Israel's foreign ministry said that every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by its security personnel, a point that had been "clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel."
A French diplomatic source said the Israeli authorities were disseminating "false allegations" and that a line had not yet been drawn under the incident.
The Israeli ambassador to Paris will be summoned in the coming days, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have worsened since President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza. The French government also attempted to ban Israeli weapons' firms from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris and has become increasingly uneasy over Israel's conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
French officials have repeatedly said that Paris is committed to Israel's security and that its military helped defend Israel amid Iranian missile attacks earlier this year.
Barrot's trip had aimed to press Israel to engage diplomatically to end the conflicts in the region now that the US presidential election is over.
It was not the first time that tensions have arisen surrounding France's historic holdings in the city.
In 2020, Macron lost his temper when visiting the Church of St. Anne, another site under French administration, demanding Israeli security personnel leave the Jerusalem basilica.
A similar incident took place in 1996 involving France's then-president Jacques Chirac, who saw his treatment by Israeli security as a "provocation".