-Caveat Lector- December 11, 1999 East German Stasi Tapes Code Broken Filed at 11:11 a.m. EST By The Associated Press HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- Experts have broken the code of two magnetic tapes from the former East German secret police containing data on more than 15,000 agents, major German weekly magazines reported Saturday. The tapes have information on 63,000 spy operations run by the so-called Stasi, including the aliases of agents who spied in West Germany and East Germany, the reports said. The reports, released early by Der Spiegel of Hamburg and Focus of Munich, are to appear in the magazines' Monday editions. The decoded information goes up to Dec. 23, 1989, two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the time, initial investigation shows, about 15,000 Stasi agents were still active. Only about a third have been identified, Der Spiegel reported. According to Focus, the decoded tapes also reveal some 1,500 targets in the West that were systematically spied upon, including federal ministries, companies, political parties and associations. The newly decoded data is a part of the so-called ``Sira Tapes'' that the German government office for administering Stasi records already partially decoded in January. A copy of the data is included in Stasi records that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is to return in part to the German government in the spring, the reports said. For years, Germany has been seeking the return of records that the CIA allegedly spirited out of the country after the fall of East Germany's communist government in 1989. Focus reported in June that President Clinton assured German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that the files would be returned. www.nytimes.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
