Austrian ex-officer suspected of spying for Russia arrested

BERLIN – Austrian authorities say a retired colonel in the country’s military who is suspected of having spied for Russia for more than two decades has been rearrested a few weeks after he was released.

The Austria Press Agency reported that the 70-year-old was arrested Friday and Salzburg prosecutors said he was in investigative custody.

He had been released on Nov. 13, a few days after the government made the case public, when a Salzburg court rejected a bid to keep him in custody. Prosecutors said a court in Linz on Friday granted their appeal against that decision.

Prosecutors say the matter is being treated as classified so they can’t give further details on the case.

Officials have said the man may have spied from the early 1990s until this year.