German police arrest Pakistani for suspicion in drone spying case

The man was identified only as Umar R., worked as a student assistant in a research plant.

BERLIN: German police have arrested a 28-year-old Pakistani man on suspicion of spying on high-tech military data, the office of the federal public prosecutor said in a statement on Thursday.

A German magazine has said the case involves a firm that did research on reconnaissance drones made by Israel and used by the German army in Afghanistan.

"The case is amazing," Focus magazine quoted one of the investigators as saying. German authorities declined to name the firm.

The man, identified only as Umar R., was arrested in the northern city of Bremen on Wednesday and worked as a student assistant in a research plant, the prosecutor's statement said.

"He is suspected of working for a Pakistani intelligence service since the end of at least October 2012," the statement said, alleging he had tried to obtain high-tech information of "military use" for his bosses.

Focus reported the man had worked for a company involved in research on reconnaissance drones, and had allegedly obtained secret studies about the steering and navigation of such drones.

Focus said the firm in question researched Israeli drones used by the German army in Afghanistan and the man, who has relations working for Pakistan's secret service and military, had allegedly procured the technical knowledge with the aim of making drones crash.