Forwarded message:
From INFO-RUSS-request@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Fri Dec 5 18:35:23 1997 From: INFO-RUSS-request@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Date: Fri, 5 Dec 97 14:33:28 -0500 Message-Id: <9712051933.AA02486@smarty.ece.jhu.edu> To: info-russ@smarty.ece.jhu.edu
From INFO-RUSS-request@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Fri Dec 5 14:04:00 EST 1997 Errors-To: INFO-RUSS-request@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Sender: INFO-RUSS-request@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Precedence: bulk Date: Sat, Dec 5 97 14:15:59 EST From: info-russ@smarty.ece.jhu.edu To: info-russ@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Subject: INFO-RUSS: Chem-to schelkal, v chem byl spryatan infrakrasnyi ob'ektiv...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- This is INFO-RUSS broadcast (1200+ subscribers). Home page, information, and archives: http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/inforuss.html To post, subscribe, or unsubscribe mail to info-russ@smarty.ece.jhu.edu ======================================================================== Folks, this is to follow up our previous story on arrested "spy" in Rostov, Russia. Looks like the old Sov-Russ-paranoia about spies is back. BTW, note a correction to the previous info: Mr. Bliss is not New Zealander, he is our fellow American who works for a New Zealand company. Alex Kaplan, info-russ owner/coordinator sasha@super.ece.jhu.edu http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan ======================================================================== Reuters, Friday December 5 9:06 AM EST American Charged In Rare Russian Spy Case By Adam Tanner MOSCOW (Reuters) - A 29-year-old U.S. telephone technician was charged with espionage against Russia Friday in what officials say is the first such case involving an American since the end of the Cold War. A spokesman for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Richard Bliss, who was arrested in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don Nov. 25, had been formally charged with spying. The text of the criminal charges was to be read to Bliss in English translation as he does not speak Russian, Russian television reported. But the exact wording of the charges was not made public as it was a state security matter, the report said. Bliss had been in Rostov for two months working to install a wireless telephone system when he was detained. He worked for San Diego-based telecommunications company Qualcomm. The U.S. Embassy has said Bliss was not a spy and Qualcomm also denied he was involved in espionage, saying he was performing routine tests to help install a wireless telephone system. U.S. officials earlier said they were continuing to press for his release and expected Vice-President Al Gore to telephone Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin later in the day to appeal for his release. "At the highest levels of government exchanges of information are flowing back and forth quite rapidly," said Qualcomm's head of government relations, Bill Bold. The FSB earlier said Bliss had carried out long-distance topographical surveys with what it called illegally-imported satellite receivers and obtained secret information about unspecified "restricted" buildings in the Rostov area. Dan Pegg, a Qualcomm senior vice-president, said Bliss was using global positioning system (GPS) equipment to measure the strength of radio signals from a central communications transmitter. Asked if Bliss could have worked as a spy without Qualcomm's knowledge, Pegg said: "They say never say never, but I'd say absolutely not." A resident of San Diego, Bliss had been in Russia about two months when he was detained, Pegg said. A high-school graduate who never went to college, Bliss worked for several communications companies before Qualcomm hired him six months ago to help install telephone systems worldwide. REUTERS@ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------