Russian Denials of Spying On US For Saddam Ring Hollow
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 27, 2006
Russia is strongly denying the allegations that it spied on the United States and passed on intelligence to Saddam Hussein's regime prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A statement released by the country's foreign intelligence service yesterday said: "Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more than once. We don't consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications."
Russia had a close relationship with Iraq prior to the war and some analysts believe the claim of spying is not unfeasible.
Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, told the Associated Press that a unit linked to the Russian military's main intelligence department, the GRU, was working inside Iraq at the time of the invasion and that information was posted on the Internet in Russia containing striking insights and analysis of US operations.
The main author of the US study on Russia's cooperation with Saddam, Kevin Woods, said that he had been surprised to learn the Russians had passed intelligence to Saddam, but he had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the Iraqi documents.
Former Iraqi military commanders have claimed they saw Russian intelligence agents and soldiers help with the removal of containers they believe were chemical weapons. They say the Russians assisted in moving materials into Syria.
Also, the Russian ambassador to Iraq is the subject of an investigation as part of the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. It's believed he received oil vouchers worth over $1.3 million.
The documents and claims about Russian spying and collusion between Russia and Iraq are contained within a 210-page report, Iraqi Perspectives Project. Analysts perused over 600,000 files of seized Iraqi documents. They also interviewed several former Iraqi officials.
A statement released by the country's foreign intelligence service yesterday said: "Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more than once. We don't consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications."
Russia had a close relationship with Iraq prior to the war and some analysts believe the claim of spying is not unfeasible.
Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, told the Associated Press that a unit linked to the Russian military's main intelligence department, the GRU, was working inside Iraq at the time of the invasion and that information was posted on the Internet in Russia containing striking insights and analysis of US operations.
The main author of the US study on Russia's cooperation with Saddam, Kevin Woods, said that he had been surprised to learn the Russians had passed intelligence to Saddam, but he had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the Iraqi documents.
Former Iraqi military commanders have claimed they saw Russian intelligence agents and soldiers help with the removal of containers they believe were chemical weapons. They say the Russians assisted in moving materials into Syria.
Also, the Russian ambassador to Iraq is the subject of an investigation as part of the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. It's believed he received oil vouchers worth over $1.3 million.
The documents and claims about Russian spying and collusion between Russia and Iraq are contained within a 210-page report, Iraqi Perspectives Project. Analysts perused over 600,000 files of seized Iraqi documents. They also interviewed several former Iraqi officials.
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