[Now that that caught the rock, they should start looking for the
tree stump, and then the rusty can. -jma]
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/23/uk.russia.row/index.html
Russia: British used 'rock' to spy
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia's internal security service has
accused four British Embassy employees of conducting a high-tech
spying operation that included using an "advanced electronic spy
gadget" in a fake rock, news agencies reported.
"An electronic cache from the British intelligence service was seized
by counterintelligence," Interfax quoted Federal Security Service
(FSB) chief spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko as saying Monday.
Interfax reported that the FSB had found the "spy gadget" installed
inside the fake rock and that the British agents used it to reach
their Russian contacts.
The FSB found a second such gadget and said the British had retrieved
another, the Russian news agency reported. Interfax said a Russian
citizen had been detained and had confessed to espionage.
Ignatchenko said the situation involving the Britons would be
"resolved at a political level," according to the Russian news agency.
"It is most important that we caught them having contact with agents
and funding a number of non-profit organizations (NGOs)," Ignatchenko
said. "We are investigating the goals of this funding."
Monday's comments come a day after Russian state-run television aired
a program allegedly showing British diplomats engaged in undercover
activities in Moscow.
Officials at the British Foreign Office in London said earlier that
they were "concerned and surprised" at the allegations in the TV
program -- which also alleged that a British official authorized
regular payments to Russian NGOs.
The Foreign Office said British officials "reject any allegation of
improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to comment on the matter at
his monthly news conference in London on Monday.
Russia-based human rights bodies said the incident may be targeting
them, following Russia's new curbs on the actions of NGO pressure
groups, Reuters reported.
Hidden camera footage
According to the program broadcast by Rossiya television, Russian
intelligence officers said they had uncovered an operation in which
British agents allegedly downloaded data to and from a transmitter
embedded in a fake rock.
The program said four British officials and at least one Russian
informant downloaded classified data to and from the transmitter onto
handheld computers. One Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by
British agents, was later arrested, the program reported.
Hidden camera footage appeared to show individuals walking up to the
rock by the side of a Moscow street, according to media reports. One
man was seen on camera carrying the rock away. The rock appears to be
about the size of a thick book.
The program also showed a document allegedly authorizing a transfer
of $41,000 to the Moscow Helsinki Group, a leading Russian human
rights group which has been a persistent critic of President Vladimir
Putin, The Associated Press reported.
An FSB spokesman told Reuters that "everything that was shown (in the
TV program) was true and based on our information."
"The diplomats were shown to be involved in activities that were
incompatible with their diplomatic status," the spokesman said.
Officials at the British Embassy in Moscow declined to comment, AP said.
A statement from the British Foreign Office in London said: "We are
concerned and surprised at these allegations. We reject any
allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs.
"It is well known that the UK government has financially supported
projects implemented by Russian NGOs in the field of human rights and
civil society.
"All our assistance is given openly and aims to support the
development of a healthy civil society in Russia."
Last year, the head of the FSB accused U.S. and other foreign
intelligence services of using NGOs to spy on Russia and foment
political upheaval in ex-Soviet republics, AP reported.
Under legislation signed into law earlier this month by Putin, NGOs
face tighter regulations on their financing and activities.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said the
incident was meant to put pressure on rights activists.
"I consider that this is a campaign against non-governmental
organizations in Russia which is being organized from above and
includes the television channels," Alexeyeva told Reuters.
"This is a complete 'deja vu' from the Soviet Union."
'Nothing is unlikely'
In Britain, experts on Russian affairs also suggested the TV report
was deliberately timed to coincide with the clampdown on NGO
activities in Russia.
Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Review, said the
allegations should be treated with caution but that they could be accurate.
"In this business nothing is unlikely," he told the UK's Press
Association. "Don't dismiss anything out of hand because far more
bizarre things have happened than a recording rock.
"It could be a KGB staged story to put pressure on the British, or it
could be completely true."
Richard Sakwa, professor of Russian and European politics at the
University of Kent, said the allegations were "incredible."
"There is no doubt about it, that the British, and Americans and
others have been active in the spying field, but this is
extraordinary," he told PA.
He said the question was why the story should break now and suggested
it could be interpreted as a means of protesting U.S. policy of
backing NGOs in an attempt to achieve change.
"The fact is that, in attacking Britain, the British are just simply
becoming associated as a support agency for the the U.S.," he said.
"It is like they are getting at Britain purely and simply as a way of
warning the U.S."
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:22 CST