Russian Charges Sound Like Spy Movie
British Secret Service Accused Of Using A Fake Rock For Spy Caper
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Play CBS Video Video Russia Accuses U.K. Of Spying The Russian government is leveling spying charges against Britain after officials accused diplomats of hiding a device in a fake rock to get information. Beth Knobel reports.
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Video Spy Scandal Rocks Russia An old fashioned spy yarn with new technology has unfolded in Moscow, where Russia says British agents were spying on them, using a rock as a receiver and transmitter. Mark Phillips reports.
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Fake rock allegedly planted on a Moscow street and used by British intelligence to spy on Russia, video stilll. (AP /APTN)
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CBS Moscow bureau chief Beth Knobel stands on the edge of Red Square, in front of St. Basil's cathedral. (CBS)
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A young man, allegedly a British embassy staff member, picks up a fake rock that Russians claim British Secret Service hid spying equipment inside, in image from Russian television documentary shown on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006. (AP Photo/RTR Russian Channel)
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Interactive Secrets Of The Spies Discover spy secrets from Mata Hari through the Cold War and meet the biggest double agents.
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Fast Facts Russia Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Fast Facts United Kingdom Learn about the people, economy and history.
Russia is suspicious of groups promoting human rights and democracy. New laws have recently been pushed through limiting their activity.
By now linking nonprofits and spies, the Kremlin is suggesting that some humanitarian organizations are up to no good.
"I wouldn't be surprised to find out this whole story was engineered to provide additional arguments for a more restrictive interpretation of the current legislation," says Andrei Kortunov, vice president of the New Eurasian Foundation.
Kortunov said the message from the Russian government was to be suspicious of NGOs: "Look at these guys. They receive money from foreign spies. They cannot be trusted. And any state would protect itself against such types of behavior."
Another alleged recipient of British money, Lyudmilla Alekseyevna of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said that the documents shown in the Russian documentary were clearly fakes, as her group had not received money from the British Embassy since 2004 and the documents shown were from 2005.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth office issued a short statement. "We are concerned and surprised at these allegations. We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealings 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."
Their statement, though, does not directly deny the spying charges.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also had little to say about the incident. "I'm afraid you are going to get the old stock in trade of never commenting on security matters, except when we want to obviously," Blair told a press conference in London.
There has been no word from the British Embassy in Moscow about the location of the four diplomats accused of spying. But with their expulsions likely to follow, there's a definite Cold War chill in the air.
By Beth Knobel
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