Armenia Arrests Alleged Azerbaijani Police Spy
Armenia has arrested a former police colonel following allegations he was trying to pass on military secrets to arch-foe Azerbaijan, the country's intelligence agency said on Wednesday.
Ex-police officer Khachik Martirosyan, 57, was detained last Friday after purportedly contacting Azerbaijani officials with the offer of spying on his ex-Soviet homeland in return for money, the National Security Service said.
"Azerbaijani secret services asked him to obtain military information," the intelligence agency said in a statement said.
"After acquiring the information, Martirosyan was detained as he was trying to pass it on to his Azerbaijani contacts," the agency said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a festering decades-long feud over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.
Last month saw an increase in violence along the volatile frontline, with both sides accusing each other of tit-for-tat raids and at least four soldiers killed.
Armenia-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that killed 30,000 people.
Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides have yet to sign a peace deal.
Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to retaliate against any military action.
Source: Agence France Presse
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