WORLD : Bonn to Exchange 4 Spies for 24 Westerners Held in E. Germany

BONN —  In one of the biggest East-West spy swaps since World War II, Bonn will release four people jailed as Communist agents in exchange for 24 Westerners held in East Germany, West German government officials said today.

A spokesman for West German President Richard von Weizsaecker said two former secretaries jailed after they passed state secrets to their KGB lovers had been pardoned. He could not say whether they had yet been freed.

Bonn’s minister for inner-German affairs, Dorothee Wilms, visiting Dresden with Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s delegation, confirmed the spy swap but would not give further details.

“I hope this means the chapter of prisoners and agents is now ended,” she said. “That is the prerequisite for the two governments to cooperate in trust.”