Russia-US spy swap starts with Vienna trip
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2010, Friday
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THE largest Russia-US spy swap since the Cold War appeared to be in motion yesterday, with a Russian convicted of spying for the United States reportedly plucked from a Moscow prison and flown to Vienna. Defense lawyers in the US say they hoped for an immediate resolution for their 10 clients charged with spying for Russia.
A swap would have significant consequences for efforts between Washington and Moscow to repair ties chilled by a deepening atmosphere of suspicion.
Ten people accused of spying for Russia were to appear at a hearing in New York federal court later yesterday. An 11th person charged in the case is a fugitive after jumping bail in Cyprus.
Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a 14-year sentenced for spying for the US, had told his relatives he was going to be one of 11 convicted spies in Russia who would be freed in exchange for 11 people charged in the US with being Russian agents. They said he was going to be sent to Vienna, then London.
In Moscow, his lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, said a journalist called Igor Sutyagin's family to inform them that he was seen walking off a plane in Vienna yesterday. However, she said she couldn't get confirmation of that claim from Russian authorities.
Russian and US officials have refused to comment on any possible swap.
But "there's a good possibility that the case will be resolved at the initial court appearance tomorrow," attorney Robert Baum, who represents defendant Anna Chapman, said late on Wednesday.
An attorney for defendant Donald Howard Heathfield, who was arrested in Massachusetts, said on Wednesday, "if they can resolve the case, great," when asked why his client was being transferred to New York.
Special riot police had beefed up security around Moscow's Lefortovo prison yesterday. A convoy of armored vehicles arrived at the prison, thought to be the central gathering point for people convicted of spying for the West, including Sutyagin.
"A swap seems very much on the cards. There is political will on both sides, and actually by even moving it as far as they have, Moscow has de facto acknowledged that these guys were spies," intelligence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said yesterday.
Behind bars
Five suspects charged with spying in the US were ordered to New York on Wednesday, joining five others already behind bars there, after Sutyagin was transferred from a forlorn penal colony near the Arctic Circle and spilled the news of the swap.
Dmitry Sutyagin said his brother remembered only one other person on the Russian list of spies to be exchanged - Sergei Skripal, a colonel in Russian military intelligence who in 2006 was sentenced to 13 years on charges of spying for Britain.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron would not confirm or deny a possible London tie to the spy swap. "This is primarily an issue for the US authorities," Steve Field said.
A swap would have significant consequences for efforts between Washington and Moscow to repair ties chilled by a deepening atmosphere of suspicion.
Ten people accused of spying for Russia were to appear at a hearing in New York federal court later yesterday. An 11th person charged in the case is a fugitive after jumping bail in Cyprus.
Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a 14-year sentenced for spying for the US, had told his relatives he was going to be one of 11 convicted spies in Russia who would be freed in exchange for 11 people charged in the US with being Russian agents. They said he was going to be sent to Vienna, then London.
In Moscow, his lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, said a journalist called Igor Sutyagin's family to inform them that he was seen walking off a plane in Vienna yesterday. However, she said she couldn't get confirmation of that claim from Russian authorities.
Russian and US officials have refused to comment on any possible swap.
But "there's a good possibility that the case will be resolved at the initial court appearance tomorrow," attorney Robert Baum, who represents defendant Anna Chapman, said late on Wednesday.
An attorney for defendant Donald Howard Heathfield, who was arrested in Massachusetts, said on Wednesday, "if they can resolve the case, great," when asked why his client was being transferred to New York.
Special riot police had beefed up security around Moscow's Lefortovo prison yesterday. A convoy of armored vehicles arrived at the prison, thought to be the central gathering point for people convicted of spying for the West, including Sutyagin.
"A swap seems very much on the cards. There is political will on both sides, and actually by even moving it as far as they have, Moscow has de facto acknowledged that these guys were spies," intelligence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said yesterday.
Behind bars
Five suspects charged with spying in the US were ordered to New York on Wednesday, joining five others already behind bars there, after Sutyagin was transferred from a forlorn penal colony near the Arctic Circle and spilled the news of the swap.
Dmitry Sutyagin said his brother remembered only one other person on the Russian list of spies to be exchanged - Sergei Skripal, a colonel in Russian military intelligence who in 2006 was sentenced to 13 years on charges of spying for Britain.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron would not confirm or deny a possible London tie to the spy swap. "This is primarily an issue for the US authorities," Steve Field said.
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