BERLIN Feb 15 (Reuters) – German authorities arrested a 56-year old Moroccan man suspected of spying on Moroccan opposition groups based in Germany, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The man, also a German citizen, is suspected of working for Morocco’s intelligence services and monitoring in particular the Polisario movement, which since the 1970s has pushed for the independence of the disputed Western Sahara territory.
Police searched apartments and stores during the arrest, made on suspicion of espionage.
The incident follows last week’s arrest of two men suspected of spying for years for the intelligence services of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad..
Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony the size of Britain, in 1975. The move is still disputed by Polisario, although the two sides signed a ceasefire in 1991. (Reporting by Diana Niedernhoefer, writing by Brian Rohan Editing by Maria Golovnina)
