From Overseas Press

Arrests show US-Russia spies' covert war lives on

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-30 10:32

Invisible ink, false identities, secret codes.

At first sight the latest U.S.-Russian spy row seems a Cold War flashback, with the drama played out against a deceptively genteel backdrop of cafes, embassies and suburbs.

Adorned with the Internet-era gadgetry of 21st century modernity, the story told in court papers filed in New York poses a series of conundrums about sources, targets and contacts -- as yet unsolved -- redolent of 1970s and 1980s spy scandals.

But whatever the truth about the people rounded up in the United States, analysts say the case illustrates a stubborn truth of big power relations -- Cold War or no, spy catchers are as busy as ever in a secret world that relies on deception.

Nor will there be any doubt, say observers based in the West, about the mood this morning among Russian intelligence chiefs following the announcement by U.S. authorities that they had broken up a big spy ring.

"In Moscow, they will be angry," former KGB Colonel and British double agent Oleg Gordievsky told Reuters.

"'How much of the information we got was planted by the FBI -- that's what they'll be wondering in Moscow Centre," said Robert Ayers, a former U.S. intelligence officer.

Saying the alleged spy group had recruited political sources and gathered information for the Russian government, U.S. authorities have charged 11 individuals with carrying out deep-cover work to learn about U.S. economic and foreign policy and intelligence and the world gold market.

Russia's Foreign Ministry called the allegations baseless and said it was regrettable that they came after Washington's call for a "reset" in ties between the Cold War foes.

Ayers said the U.S. revelations will have led to a profound "damage assessment" among Moscow's espionage leadership.

He said Russian spy chiefs would also be asking themselves: "If this group did manage to obtain classified information, will the FBI choose to reveal this in open court?"

Court papers show the group was under surveillance for years. "You're positive no one is watching?" one of the alleged agents asks at a meeting at a New York coffee shop with an FBI agent posing as a Russian, court papers published online show.

The Justice Department documents say the group was given orders to live for years in the United States to cultivate credible backgrounds and spend time getting to know well-placed sources of information.