A former German intelligence chief has been arrested on allegations that he "spied out state secrets", the country's federal prosecutor's office said.
August Hanning, 80, who was president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from December 1998 to November 2005, is "strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
He is charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.
Hanning was arrested in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany.
A former aide of his, identified only as Manfred D, was also arrested on Tuesday.
Both suspects are believed to have agreed, in the spring of 2010, to have Manfred D continuously transfer valuable intelligence from the BND to Hanning "in exchange for remuneration".
"The current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information to be used exclusively by the federal intelligence service for internal purposes, particularly for executive intelligence briefings," the statement alleges.
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Hanning used the information in his private consulting work, the statement added.
The office said that "on one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence provided by Manfred D to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service".
It did not specify which country the foreign agent worked for and said that "it has yet to be determined if the material reached the intended recipient".
The homes of both men were searched on Tuesday.
The investigation was launched after the discovery of an alleged intelligence report leak intended for the chancellery, Bild newspaper reported.
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