FBI agent caught spying for Russia

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 20. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested one of its agents on suspicion of spying for Russia. The agent, said to be a counter-terrorism expert, was picked up on Sunday after he supposedly dropped off a package at a park in Virginia, said to contain classified information.

The FBI has said that Mr. Robert Phillip Hanssen, a 27-year veteran of the Bureau, will be produced in court today in Alexandria, Virginia; and Mr. Louis Freeh, head of the agency, is slated to hold a press conference later to announce the details of the arrest and the alleged activities of Mr. Hanssen.

Mr. Hanssen, among other things, is suspected of passing on materials to the Russians involving electronic surveillance methods used by the U.S. Media reports have it that he may have also confirmed to Moscow some of the information it had from Mr. Aldrich Ames, an officer of the CIA who had spied for the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Hanssen's latest assignment was at the FBI headquarters in Washington but his postings involved surveillance of Russian missions in the U.S. He is also said to have advised the State Department on issues of security. In the last two years, the State Department has been plagued by serious security breaches including a missing lap top computer with classified information.

The FBI apparently came to know about Mr. Hanssen's activities several months ago when an internal audit showed the presence of an ``internal mole''. It turned around and started obtaining secret documents from Moscow with suspicion eventually falling on Mr. Hanssen.

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Section  : International
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