Farewell to the Mole

In an elaborate trade, West Germany sends a superspy East

The setting was pure John le Carre. Alerted to the story, a crowd of journalists waited under the trees outside Bonn's University Clinic, separated from the hospital by a cordon of green-uniformed policemen armed with submachine guns. When a nearby police helicopter started its engine without warning, the newsmen broke toward the aircraft in a dead run, hoping to catch a glimpse of the passenger inside.

Too late, they realized they had been tricked. A green van suddenly shot out of the clinic and tore down the hill at high speed. Inside was one of the most famous convicted spies in Europe: Guenter Guillaume, 54, whose espionage in high places brought about the fall of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1974.

Four hours later, Guillaume was driven across the frontier into East Germany in an American-made camper, closely followed by a beige Mercedes. The small convoy dropped its passenger, then quickly returned to the West German border. The release of Guillaume marked the beginning of the largest known spy-swapping operation between East and West since World War II.

According to Western diplomats in Bonn, three additional East German spies were included in the deal. One was Renate Lutze, a former secretary in the West German Defense Ministry, who was convicted on espionage charges in 1979. The others were not identified. Plans had also been made for three more Communist spies, now held in France, Denmark and South Africa, to be swapped last week, but arrangements with the governments involved were not completed on time.

In return, the East Germans agreed to release 43 West Germans jailed on catch-all "treason" charges--unjustly, according to the Bonn government. The plan also calls for East German authorities to issue exit visas to some 3,000 of their citizens who want to join relatives in the West. But for this the West Germans reportedly have to pay extra: a total ransom of about $45 million.

The release of Guillaume ended a political scandal that rocked West Germany seven years ago. Guillaume, who turned out to be a captain, later promoted to colonel, in the East German army, was a "mole" who worked his way onto Chancellor Brandt's personal staff in the early 1970s. At the spy's trial in 1975, officials testified that Brandt trusted Guillaume so completely that he was allowed to carry decoded NATO documents bearing the top security classification "cosmic" to and from Norway, where the Chancellor spent his holidays. The trial, and reports that Guillaume had collected evidence of alleged indiscretions in Brandt's private life, led to the Chancellor's resignation.

Brandt's successor, Helmut Schmidt, vowed repeatedly that Guillaume would serve his full 13-year sentence, and many West Germans still believe he should have done so. But the official attitude began to change as Guillaume's health deteriorated. Earlier this year he was moved from Rheinbach prison, outside Bonn, to a hospital for treatment of a kidney disorder and high blood pressure. In the end, the Bonn government decided that this was the best time for his release. As a West German parliamentary leader put it last week, "If we had waited any longer, the market value of this spy would probably have dropped."

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