MOSCOW - A British newspaper report about an allegedly growing threat from Russian spies was an attempt to stir up Cold War antagonisms, Russia's External Intelligence Service said Monday.
"The author of the article in fact has the same goals as those with which he accuses the Russian side -- trying to resume the methods and atmosphere of the Cold War, that is to say the stand-off that existed in the past," Boris Labusov, a spokesman for the intelligence service, said.
The Sunday Telegraph report quoted what it said was an MI5 British intelligence document warning of a "substantial" threat from stepped-up Russian spying activity.
According to the Sunday Telegraph report, "Russian spies are travelling widely through Britain" in search of British defence industry and military secrets, as well as information about Chechen asylum seekers. The alleged spies "include about 30 accredited Russian diplomats."
Labusov said "there is a lack of any sort of proof" in the article and that the only fact correctly reported was that an employee of BAE Systems was arrested in 2003, then jailed for 10 years for attempting to pass secrets to Russia.
The man, Ian Parr, was arrested after an undercover MI5 operation in which agents posed as Russian spies, a tactic Labusov called a "provocation by British spies."
05/16/2005 15:54 GMT