| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Russia spy chiefs hail cooperation
MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia's security service said the "sting" operation that smashed an alleged plot to smuggle a surface-to-air missile into the U.S. marked "a new stage in cooperation" between spy agencies of East and West. Russian officials tipped off the FBI months ago about an Indian-born Briton they said was seeking weapons to buy in St. Petersburg, Russia. A surveillance operation culminated with the man's arrest Tuesday in Newark, N.J., where he was allegedly trying to seal the deal. The chief spokesman for the organization that succeeded the KGB, the Federal Security Service or FSB, said the arrest was the result of improved cooperation between the secret services of Russia, Britain and the United States. "It is the first time such an operation has been carried out since the ends of the Cold War, when our special services acted in confrontation with each other," the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Sergei Ignatchenko as saying. "This action marks a new stage in the development of cooperation between the special services of these countries," said Ignatchenko. speaking from Washington. CNN's Jill Dougherty said the better cooperation was the "good side" to news that shoulder-fired missiles-for-sale had become a systemic problem. She said Russian shoulder-held missiles were not the only problem -- there were large numbers of American Stinger missiles that had been given to the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan in the 1980s. She said that as a result, Russia and the U.S. have been working together to plug the loopholes. Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who was plucked to succeed Boris Yeltsin from his job as head of the FSB and was during the Cold War a KGB operative for 16 years -- has moved after September 11 to increase the FSB's powers particularly in regard to combating terrorism. The KGB was disbanded in 1993 after the fall of Communism in Russia and replaced by the Federal Counterintelligence Service or FSK. This subsequently became the FSB. Putin threw his support behind the U.S. in the fight against terrorism following the September 11 attacks and has repeatedly said that battling terrorism and arms proliferation are areas where cooperation with the West is crucial to world security. In March this year Putin boosted the powers of Russia's security service, giving it control over electronic intelligence gathering and the country's border guards -- giving it clout approaching that of the Soviet-era KGB, Russian media reported. Putin said then it would increase the FSB's efficiency and step up the fight against terrorism and the illegal drugs trade. In Moscow Wednesday, the FSB and the Kremlin declined specifically to comment on the "sting" operation, which Ignatchenko said was conducted by the FBI in conjunction with the FSB. He said the increased cooperation among the security services of Russia, Britain and the United States was the result of agreements reached by the leaders of the three countries, ITAR-Tass reported. According to state-run Rossiya television, Ignatchenko said the operation was a "positive result" in efforts to stop the activities of criminal groups involved in illegal arms sales. The joint operation, which came ahead of a summit expected this autumn between Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush, struck a tone of accord on weapons proliferation, an issue that has been a source of distrust and disputes between the two countries despite improved post-Cold War ties. As long ago as March 2000 Putin signaled working more closely with the West in a speech on 'Chekist's Day' to mark the founding of the Soviet Union's first security service. On the same platform the head of the foreign intelligence agency, the SVR, Sergei Lebedev, said Russia and the West faced the paradox of working with and against each other. "In recent years, our partners in the West have been calmer at the idea of us carrying on intelligence work against each other and at the same time developing cooperation," he said. He said both sides have fought international terrorism, drug trafficking and the spread of nuclear weapons technology together. "We intend in the future to continue such relations of partnership," said Lebedev. One example of growing cooperation between the FSB and CIA was shown in June 2001 when security was stepped up around President Bush after Russia warned of a possible assassination attempt at the G8 summit at Genoa, Italy, by supporters of Osama Bin Laden. This June -- a week after the leaders of Russia and other G-8 countries issued a plan designed to stop terrorists from acquiring portable missile systems -- Russia's defense minister called for stricter controls on exports of shoulder-fired missiles, saying they are dangerous weapons that too often fall into terrorist hands. Yevgeny Volk, head of the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office, said the trade in Russian-made shoulder-fired missiles was "a very big business and a very profitable one." The arrest "demonstrates the cooperation of the secret services, but from the point of view of stopping the flow of these weapons, it is not so effective," he told The Associated Press. "I believe that both Russia and America felt they needed a piece of public relations to show they are closely cooperating in combating terrorism and the illegal arms trade," said Volk. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
