CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

Stasi Files

1999

Materials presented chronologically.

Boyes, Roger. "CIA to Return Stasi Papers." Times (London). 19 Jan. 1999. [http://www. the-times.co.uk]

"The Central Intelligence Agency, giving way to intense German lobbying, has agreed to hand over thousands of files on agents who spied for communist East Germany."

Washington Post. "U.S. to Release E. German Intelligence Files." 19 Jan. 1999, A14.

Pincus, Walter. "U.S. Won't Hand Over E. German Spy Files: CIA Obtained Data Sometime After '89." Washington Post, 20 Jan. 1999, A17. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]

Pincus quotes "informed government sources" for the view that the "United States has no plans to hand over to the German government the complete original files from East Germany's foreign spy operations, which the CIA obtained in a clandestine operation sometime after 1989." These statements were in response to earlier reports (see above) that an agreement had been reached for the return of the files.

Boyes, Roger. "U.S. Denies Deal to Hand Over Stasi Spy Files." Times (London). 21 Jan. 1999. [http://www.the-times.co.uk]

On 20 January 1999, the United States "denied ... that it intends to hand over secret files taken from East German police archives after the collapse of the Berlin Wall."

Associated Press. "Germany Expects Stasi Files Back." 21 Jan. 1999. [http://www.ap.org]

Johannes Legner, the spokesman for the German government agency that oversees the Stasi files in Berlin, said that the agency "expects the United States will eventually hand over secret files that were spirited away to Washington shortly after the Berlin Wall fell."

Associated Press. "Germany, U.S. to Discuss Spy Files." 27 Jan. 1999. [http://www.ap.org]

During a 8-9 February 1999 visit to Washington, Bodo Hombach, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's chief of staff, will meet with DCI George Tenet and probably national security adviser Sandy Berger to "press efforts to recover former East German spy files believed taken by the CIA."

Cole, Deborah. "U.S.-Held Files Seen Uncovering E. German Spies." Reuters, 4 Feb. 1999.

"Files thought to be in the hands of the CIA could blow the cover of former agents in communist East Germany's international espionage network, according to [State Ombudsman for the Documents of the Former East German State Security Service (Stasi) Joachim Gauck].... The remark comes before a German government delegation ... travels to Washington [on 8 February 1999] to ask for the return of Cold War files on East German spying that ended up in the United States after the fall of the Berlin Wall."

Drozdiak, William. "The Cold War in Cold Storage: Washington Won't Part With East German Spy Files; Bonn Wants Them Back." Washington Post, 3 Mar. 1999, A17. [http:// www.washingtonpost.com]

When German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visited the United States last month, he "was fervently hoping he would return home with ... the top-secret archives of East Germany's foreign spy operations that the CIA spirited away after the fall of the Berlin Wall." However, President Clinton would not even discuss the issue. The Chancellor's "senior aides said privately" that he "was outraged by the ... refusal to surrender files that Germany considers its property. They warned that the impasse soon could seriously damage cooperation on intelligence and other matters between the countries."

Goetz, John, and Matthew Campbell. "Germany Seeks CIA Spy Dossier." Sunday Times (London), 21 Mar. 1999.

"The Central Intelligence Agency is ready to return files from the former East German Stasi spy agency which include the names of 3,000 agents who spied on West Germany for the communists during the cold war....

"Ernst Uhrlau, the coordinator of German secret services, said ... he had won assurances from George Tenet, the CIA director, that the files will be handed over to Bonn. He said the CIA and the German secret services had agreed to make 'intensive joint use' of the files."

An Associated Press report on 22 March 1999, datelined Mainz, Germany, quotes German television ZDF as stating that the United States has agreed to turn over the Stasi files. The report adds that a "government spokesman confirmed the report, but said the two sides agreed not to discuss details."

The Independent (UK). "How the CIA Stole East German Files." 20 Sep. 1999. [http:// www.independent.co.uk]

"The unmasking of British spies and 'agents of influence' was made possible by a remarkable CIA coup -- the stealing of the secret archive of agent files of the East German spy service. In the thousands of files the Americans discovered the names of dozens of spies in the West who had worked for the East German secret service... The American coup is seen to be on a par with MI6's brilliant operation to spirit Colonel Vasili Mitrokhin and his archive out of Russia in 1992."

Pincus, Walter. "Berlin to Get CIA Copies of 320,000 Stasi Files." Washington Post, 27 Oct. 1999, A27. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]

U.S. and German officials stated on 26 October 1999 that the CIA will turn over to Germany "copies of a significant part, but not all," of the Stasi files obtained after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. According to U.S. officials, "[f]iles relating to foreigners who worked for the Stasi in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere will not be turned over."

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