Intelligence agency employee arrested over Islamist comments

An employee of the domestic German intelligence agency who had been hired to observe Islamists in Germany is facing charges of making Islamist statements and illegally sharing agency files, German media reported.

The 51-year-old suspect allegedly planned to explode a bomb at the central office of German intelligence agency Bundesverfassungsschutz (BfV) in Cologne, Die Welt newspaper reported. The man reportedly was caught by an agency informant.

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A BfV spokesman did not confirm the Die Welt report, according to Reuters news agency.

"There is no evidence to date that there is a concrete danger to the security of the BfV or its employees," he added.

"The man is accused of making Islamist statements on the Internet using a false name and of revealing internal agency material in Internet chatrooms," he said.

The suspected mole also offered to share sensitive data about the BfV which could have endangered the agency's work, the spokesman said, without elaborating.

The BfV said the suspect, who now has German citizenship, had previously "behaved inconspicuously".

German authorities have ramped up their surveillance of potential militant Islamist groups and individuals after two attacks claimed by the Islamic State group in July.