BBC News Online: World: Europe

German authorities arrest Iranian 'spy'

The German authorities say they have arrested an Iranian citizen suspected of spying on Iranian exiles since 1999.

A statement from the German prosecutor's office named the accused man as Mohammad Bahman Ali, based in Frankfurt.

It said he had concentrated his activities on Iranian opposition figures in Germany and France.

The German authorities say the 40-year-old man was working for the Iranian intelligence service Vevak and had previously been detained from February to August last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service