Well now the Cold War is back.
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U.S. Expelling Dozens of Russian Diplomats
By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (March 22) - President Bush said Thursday it ``was the right thing to do'' to order 50 Russians to leave the country, including four Russian intelligence officers accused of ties to a suspected spy.
``I was presented with the facts. I made the decision. It was the right thing to do,'' Bush said.
Two other Russian officers suspected of links to the explosive spy case departed recently after U.S. investigators determined they were involved in operations by suspected spy and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, a senior U.S. official said.
In a parallel action, 46 Russians accredited to the embassy in Washington and consulates around the country were told leave the United States by July 1. Their ouster reflects U.S. displeasure with Russia maintaining a large complement of intelligence officers in the United States in a buildup that began in 1997.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the move was ``political.''
``If anyone had any questions or doubts, this could easily have been settled along ... special channels and by special contacts,'' Ivanov said in a statement read over state-controlled ORT television.
``Unfortunately, Washington has chosen another way, so this step cannot be regarded as anything but a political one,'' Ivanov said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell called in Russian Ambassador Ury M. Ushakov on Wednesday to inform him of the expulsions. John Beyerle, who heads the State Department office that deals with Russia and other former Soviet republics, summoned the ambassador Thursday for a follow-up session.
The four Russians declared persona non grata must depart within 10 days.
``The department made clear to the Russian side that any other Russian officials who may be subsequently implicated in the Hanssen case will not be welcome in the United States,'' spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.
``In addition, we have made clear to the Russian side the need to take actions to address our longstanding concerns about the level of their intelligence presence in the United States,'' Boucher said.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the six Russians ordered expelled were ``intelligence handlers'' in the Hanssen case.
The others are being ousted because their large presence ``is just not representative of the kind of relations we would want to have with Russia,'' Condoleezza Rice, Bush's assistant for national security, said Thursday.
Rice said Russia's military presence here had ``been on the agenda for several years,'' and that she does not think the move will hurt relations between the two countries.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush signed off on the action and was ``involved extensively'' in the decision to oust the Russians.
``The president looks forward to having a productive relationship with Russia,'' Fleischer said. ``The president also will have a policy that is marked by realism.''
He said the United States, dating to the Clinton administration, has raised concerns about the ``number and level of intelligence officers that Russia has in this country.''
The move was expected to draw a tit-for-tat response from Moscow, U.S. officials said.
``Assumedly, they are going to make a request for some of our most experienced to leave,'' said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. ``That is the expected way in which these counterintelligence incidents work when they go sour.''
The action is the largest diplomat expulsion since the Cold War and further clouds dealings between the relatively new administrations of President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB official.
In Moscow, a scheduled meeting between Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and U.S. Ambassador James Collins was put off after the American envoy was called to the Foreign Ministry early Thursday morning, Zyuganov's spokesman said.
Gennady Seleznyov, speaker of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, speculated that in exchange for the expulsions, ``We'll find reasons for finding exactly that number of (American) diplomats who should not be working in Moscow.''
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the six Russians were ordered expelled immediately because U.S. investigators believe they were ``intelligence handlers'' directly implicated in the case of accused spy Hanssen.
Graham, who was briefed on the expulsions Wednesday, said at least four of the six have already left the country.
Hanssen, was arrested last month and is charged with passing information to the Soviet Union and Moscow for 15 years. Hanssen, 56, was a 25-year FBI veteran and counterintelligence expert.
The United States alleges he compromised extensive U.S. intelligence-gathering operations, including a tunnel dug beneath the Russian embassy in Washington. Investigators allege that Hanssen's actions cost some U.S. operatives their lives.
U.S.-Russian relations are subject to tension in a number of areas, including Bush's plan for a missile defense system opposed by Moscow.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Russia has spread missile technologies to Iran. The statement brought harsh words from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which demanded that Washington abandon ``propaganda duels and Cold War cliches.''
Last week, the FBI said a press attache for the Russian Embassy who returned home last week may have been a spy. Vladimir Frolov, who cut his second tour of duty in the United States short when he abruptly left the country, told reporters he was returning home to join the Russian newspaper Izvestia.
AP-NY-03-22-01 1147EST
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. . |
