BERLIN, Nov 24: The idea that Germany might somehow be linked to terrorist attacks abroad was ludicrous, a government spokesman said on Monday, reacting to reports that three German spies were being held in Kosovo over an attack on an EU office.

Government spokesman Thomas Steg said he would not comment on details of the reports, but told a regular news conference: “The idea that the German government could be involved in terrorist attacks abroad is absurd.”

The three Germans were arrested last week and questioned on Saturday by a Pristina district court judge who ordered them to be detained until Dec 22. A defence lawyer said the three were suspected of having committed an act of terrorism.

A police source in Kosovo said the three were members of the BND foreign intelligence agency, Germany’s equivalent of the CIA. The BND has declined to comment.

An explosive charge was thrown on Nov 14 at the International Civilian Office (ICO), the office of European Union Special Representative Pieter Feith, who oversees Kosovo’s governance, but caused only minor damage.

German media said the BND officials had told investigators they had been examining the scene of the explosion, but had not been involved in it.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily quoted one of the suspects’ lawyers as saying they had gone to the scene “out of curiosity”.

TRUSTFUL RELATIONS: Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the issue should not be politicised, adding Kosovo laws had to be respected.

“All are equal in front of the law. No one is above the law... We should trust the justice institutions and should not have any prejudgments and political assessments,” he said.

“Relations with Germany were, are, and will be excellent.”

A German foreign ministry spokesman said he hoped for a solution that would satisfy all sides, adding: “We have good and trustful relations with the Kosovo government.”

“I assume this case will not have negative effects on our bilateral relations,” he said, adding Germany was a key supporter of Kosovo and had been one of the first countries to recognise its independence.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February after nine years under UN stewardship and is recognised by more than 50 countries.

Four days before the bomb attack in Pristina, its leaders rejected a plan by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the deployment of an EU police and justice mission, EULEX.

The Kosovo case has put Germany’s BND back into the media spotlight after a series of unwelcome headlines in past months.

Earlier this year, it came under fire for paying millions of euros to an informant for data on Germans suspected of evading taxes using banks in Liechtenstein. Many Germans said the BND should not have paid a suspected criminal.

In April, Der Spiegel weekly said the BND had apologised to one of its journalists after monitoring her emails to an Afghan politician. Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the time the incident had hurt her confidence in the BND’s leadership.—Reuters