Arne Treholt, Norway's most famous spy, is dead

Former Norwegian diplomat Arne Treholt, convicted of spying in particular for the benefit of the Soviet Union, died at the age of 80, his family announced Sunday, February 12 to the Norwegian daily Aftenposten.

“

,” the newspaper said.

Main protagonist during the Cold War of the "

" in Norwegian history, Arne Treholt lived in Moscow where he died.

Born on December 13, 1942, he became very young active in politics within the Labor Party before engaging in diplomacy.

He had notably been posted to the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations in New York.

Read alsoThe Russian patriarch Kirill worked for the KGB during the Cold War

Arne Treholt, then head of the Foreign Ministry's press service, was arrested at Oslo airport in 1984 when he was about to board a plane to meet a Soviet agent in Vienna.

Sentenced in 1985 to 20 years in prison for espionage and high treason, he was pardoned in 1992 for medical reasons.

Subsequently, Arne Treholt had admitted to having provided foreign powers with documents, without importance according to him, and to having received financial compensation, while rejecting the charges of espionage.

Upon his release, he had lived in Cyprus and Russia.