The tale sounded like a John le Carre thriller, and with good reason: the main character is believed to have been the model for the novelist's Karla, the fabled communist spy master. Markus Wolf, former chief of the foreign intelligence arm of Stasi, East Germany's dreaded secret police, emerged in Vienna last week, where he had been secretly living since Aug. 30. He applied for political asylum in Austria -- a request that was promptly denied. The wily spy chief, who is wanted in Germany on espionage charges, is currently free on appeal.
Wolf fled to the Soviet Union shortly before...
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