Two of the West German defendants charged by Egypt with espionage for Israel pleaded not guilty yesterday at their trial in Cairo, it was reported here today from Egyptian capital.
The two defendants are Mrs. Wolfgang Lotz, 38, and Franz Kiesow. The woman is the wife of a third West German defendant who said last week that he had spied for Israel. He denied, however, that he tried to assassinate West German technical experts working in Cairo by use of letters containing explosives. Mrs. Lotz was charged with complicity in her husband’s activities.
Kiesow, 48-year-old former representative in Cairo of the Mannesmann Steel Company of Dusseldorf, testified that reports he had sent to his company contained political and economic data. He contended that such material was part of reports usually sent by business representatives to firms, and he pleaded not guilty to charges he had sent the Dusseldorf firm defense secrets. He also pleaded not guilty to a charge he had gathered information in Egypt illegally.
Mrs. Lotz testified she had been a lookout for her husband while he sent information on a secret radio in the Lotz home in Cairo. She added she thought he had been an undercover agent for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. She testified she had not known about the charge that he had spied for Israel. She denied reports that Lotz was an Israeli army officer, testifying that, when they were married, he had shown her documents showing he was a German citizen who had served in the German army in World War II.
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