By IRNA
Berlin : The scandal surrounding the illegal training mission of German police experts in Libya has widened, news reports said Saturday.
Germany’s foreign BND intelligence agency and the German embassy in Libya were privied to the coaching of Libyan security forces between 2005 and 2007, according to the press.
The German secret service played an “advisory” role in the Libyan training program, the daily Berliner Zeitung quoted security circles as saying.
Meanwhile, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine said that members of the German embassy in Libya were also informed of the controversial mission.
Both the BND and the German government have yet to comment on the reports.
According to the daily Berliner Zeitung, a training cooperation agreement between Germany and Libya was signed after the visit by then-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to the Libyan capital Tripoli in October 2004.
The BND insisted at that time that it was to stay only in the background, seeking no active role in the coaching of Libyan security forces.
Some 30 police specialists, soldiers and former members of the elite police commando group GSG-9 were involved in the clandestine operation two years ago, officials said Friday.
The Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported earlier that a private security firm hired the Germans to train or organize training programs for Libyan security forces during their free time.
The 30 men, among them several state police officers, were flown out to Libya and paid 15,000 euros (23,400 dollars) for their services, the daily added.
Meanwhile, a German soldier has been under investigation and suspended from duty for his alleged role in the illegal secret training of Libyan security forces, deputy defense ministry spokesman Christian Dienst said Friday during a regular news conference in Berlin.
The unidentified trooper is charged with tarnishing the image of the German army and being involved in an unauthorized sideline job during his spare time, according to Dienst.
The German army became aware of the illegal activity during the “first half of 2006,” he added.
Dienst refused to say what kind of Libyan security forces the German soldier had actually trained, citing the pending legal probe.