VIENNA, July 9, (AFP) - In a perfectly choreographed operation, Russia and the United States completed their biggest spy swap since the Cold War Friday, exchanging 10 agents deported by the US for four freed by Moscow.
As the cloak-and-dagger move successfully drew the curtain on what could have fuelled an embarrassing diplomatic spat between the two nations, more details began to emerge highlighting the high-stakes involved.
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| A Russian emergency situations ministry plane taxis for take off next to a Vision airlines plane presumed to be carrying 10 men and women who worked as Russian spies in the United States at Vienna airport on July 9. AFP |
Special Russian and US flights carried the spies to Vienna early Friday, parked next to each other on the runway, then took off within 15 minutes of each other after the exchange, which was kept well hidden from banks of media.
A government jet flew the 10 Russian spies, including the glamorous Anna Chapman, back to Moscow's Domodedovo airport, officials said.
Pictures broadcast on Russian state television showed the agents being whisked away from the airport tarmac to an unknown location in two minivans.
The American plane, meanwhile, made a brief stop at the Brize Norton air base in central England, British media reported, before taking off again and landing around 2130 GMT at Dulles international airport outside Washington.
It was not immediately clear if all the four agents released by Russia were brought to the United States, as US and British media reported one, and maybe two, of them had stayed behind in Britain.
The White House meanwhile revealed it had been first briefed about the “deep cover” Russian spy network as early as February, well before the Russian agents were arrested in an FBI swoop on June 27 after a decade-long surveillance.
And it confirmed that CIA chief Leon Panetta had led negotiations with the Russians on resolving the crisis, which flared into the open just as the former Cold War foes are enjoying a “reset” in relations.
Vienna, the Austrian capital near the old Iron Curtain frontier, has not seen such drama since the Cold War, when it was at the heart of the espionage struggle played out between the two superpowers.
“The United States government came up with the four individuals to be freed by the Russians based on humanitarian concerns, health concerns, and other reasons that we put forward to the Russians,” the White House said in a statement, revealing how the deal was hammered out. |
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