UK expels 4 Russian spies - but pretend we don't have any, lies, deception by Foreign Secretary - Press act as Chorus

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On the July 7th Lord Patel posted "Sasha is not quite in his right mind.” - MI6 told their Moscow spy - more fairy tales from the land of Litvinenko, which broke the news that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had instituted criminal proceedings (6/7/07) under the Criminal Code Article 275 (which includes espionage) against Vyacheslav Zharko, a former officer ( 4 yrs experience with rank of Major) of the Russian tax police, throwing (it is said) some more light and probably many more shadows on the Litvinenko affair.

Vyacheslav Zharko admitted he had been recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) when he voluntarily surrendered in June to the friendly FSB. He claims he was receiving about 2,000 Euros in cash monthly (which apparently he did not declare for tax purposes !) for writing surveys for the British side “fishing out information from various Internet sites.” It was only when he realised what a small fish he was, in a big game he decided to "come clean".

His action in surrendering himself followed on from May 31st news conference given by Andrei Lugovoi, (accused by the UK Crown Prosecution Service on May 22 of murdering former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko) who accused Russia's fugitive, London based tycoon Boris Berezovsky of working for British intelligence. (Pic K.Pravda)

In an interview published by the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily on Saturday 7th July he said that a man calling himself John Callaghan, (who he says was first secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow and is regarded a career intelligence officer) and one called Paul (AKA Antonio Alvaresde Idalgo****, also AKA Pablo Miller, who worked in Tallinnin 1999 (1st Sec. british Embassy and involved in a criminal case opened against Lieut. Col Valery Ojamae, who was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2001 for high treason," - following a spy row in August 1999 in which Russia and Estonia each expelled two diplomats from their countries. ) he also met him variously met him in London, Istanbul, Helsinki and Cyprus.

“The Britons later also confessed to me that they were intelligence officers and John Callaghan told me that he was working under the cover of the Embassy in Moscow and took part in general operations, for instance, had
once photographed secret documents in a restaurant WC,”

....he also named a Ken Philips who he says also worked in Moscow and now he is an intelligence officer in the British Embassy in Istanbul. Apparently these FO johnnies gave him a fancy mobile phone they would use to call him - but which was for receive only purposes.

Amongst his claims Zharkov says the Brits could not eliminate the possibility that the FSB had recruited an agent in the British embassy and “asked me if I could using my connections in security services to track down the ‘mole.” They also asked him to find out if “specific connections of certain non-governmental organisations could come under control of Russian security services.”

Whilst Lord Patel has many and various sources as has, let us say the HM Embassy in Moscow - this story was widely available on the newswires by Novosti

Now apart from a small report in Bahrein and Australia - this story was ignored, although it was a story that made headlined in Russian language newsapers. Do a Google news search, search the BBC ...nada. .. nothing ... zero .. nul point.

Now today bright eyed and bushy tailed our boy Foreign Secretary David Milliband has expelled 4 Russki diplomats (spies in Diplospeak) and looking angry said " a range of issues was under review." This is (apparently) in response to Moscow's refusal to extradite the prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the ex (?) KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, to face trial in the UK for his nurder ...naturally he denies involvement.

The Council of Europe European Convention on Extradition 1957, provides Russian to refuse the extradition of a citizen. Whilst the UK has the right to request that Mr Lugovoi be tried in Russia, but the UK's director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald, has already turned down the offer.

Now quite why the Press have not repeated these allegations of Zharkov or tested their truth by asking the Foreign office, Downing Street etc., we leave to the reader to speculate about.

But it sounds like a diplomatic tit-for-tat in which the British public are being misled, misinformed and (as per fucking usual) being sold a lot of bollocks.

"Deepening political crisis between the UK and Russia" Eddie Mayer BBC 4 Radio News at 5.34 BST.

****Identified by Sergei Skripal, a former Russian colonel sentenced August 2006 to 13 years in prison for spying for Britain. (BBC)