This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7500665.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| New spy claim hits Russia-UK ties | New spy claim hits Russia-UK ties |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Russian security officials have accused a British diplomat based in Moscow of spying, Russian news agencies report. | Russian security officials have accused a British diplomat based in Moscow of spying, Russian news agencies report. |
| They said the official, named as Christopher Bower, was a senior British intelligence officer. | They said the official, named as Christopher Bower, was a senior British intelligence officer. |
| The British embassy in Moscow has so far refused to make any comments on the Russian reports. | |
| The allegation follows a recent BBC report that the Russian state had been involved in the murder of its former agent Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. | The allegation follows a recent BBC report that the Russian state had been involved in the murder of its former agent Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. |
| Mr Bower worked as a reporter for the BBC before joining the UK Foreign Office in the 1990s. | |
| Mr Litvinenko died in London from radiation poisoning. UK investigators suspect former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of the murder, but he has always denied any involvement. | |
| Diplomatic relations between London and Moscow have been fraught since the Litvinenko murder. | |
| The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says it is clear the meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the G8 summit earlier this week failed to end the disputes between the two countries. |