Russia hints at possible end to U.S. spy case
(adds technician may not have to return)
By Adam Tanner
MOSCOW, Dec 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. telephone technician charged with spying in Russia has been given permission to
go home for Christmas, and a Russian official said on Wednesday he would have to return only if an investigator so
requested.
An airport official said bad weather continued to delay the departure of Richard Bliss, who was arrested on November
25 and accused of gathering secret information while performing surveillance work using satellite equipment.
Alexander Zdanovich, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service (FSB), said Bliss, an employee of San Diego-based
Qualcomm Inc [Nasdaq:QCOM - news], had been released on condition he return if requested by the FSB investigator
overseeing the case.
But he said there was no set date by which he had to return to the southern city of Rostov-on-Don where he was
arrested.
''There has been no agreed return date at all,'' Zdanovich told Reuters. ''Anything is possible. They have just decided to
let him go for the holidays. The case investigator will decide how things develop from here...Whenever the investigator
needs him, (Bliss) will return.''
The remark suggested that the FSB, a successor to the Soviet KGB, might be willing quietly to drop the case which both
Bliss and the U.S. government have said is groundless.
Rob Holt, another Qualcomm official in Rostov-on-Don, said earlier Bliss was released on the assumption that he would
return to Russia by January 10. ''The simple agreement is that he has agreed and Qualcomm has agreed that he will be
returning by the 10th in order to complete the investigation,'' he said.
Bad weather delayed Bliss's departure on Wednesday on a company-chartered aircraft from Rostov-on-Don, where the
airport was closed until 1300 GMT, an airport official said.
''What we're trying to do is to overcome this ice. If we can get through this ice we can get him on a plane,'' Holt said.
His lawyer in Russia, Valery Petrayev, earlier said Bliss had been allowed to go to the United States until January 10,
although he might not have to return at that time.
''They let him go for Christmas, New Year, until January 10 for the moment. Maybe longer, it depends on whether the
FSB comes up with any evidence that he was spying,'' Petrayev told Reuters. ''Who sends a spy home for Christmas?
It's funny!''
FSB spokesman Zdanovich called Bliss's release a ''humanitarian gesture by the investigator.''
Holt took a similar view. ''It was, I believe, probably a goodwill gesture on their part. They were very sensitive to the
issue of the Christmas holidays and...being with family during the Christmas holidays.''
In Washington, the State Department welcomed the release. ''We have called for the dropping of charges and we
continue to call for the dropping of charges, which we believe are groundless,'' spokesman James Foley said.
In Seattle, Bliss's father, Robert, said he expected his son would arrive back in San Diego by Christmas Day.
Bliss, 29, was formally charged with espionage, a charge which can carry a jail term of up to 20 years. Prior to the
agreement, he was set free on bail but not allowed to leave the area of his arrest.
Bliss, his company and U.S. officials have all denied he was spying. They said he was using standard land-surveying
equipment as part of his work.
Qualcomm issued a statement saying it was ''elated'' with the decision to release him, although it expressed
disappointment that the charges against him had not yet been dropped |
