#6 - RW 272
Russian intelligence service denies allegations on more intensive activity in Europe, U.S.

MOSCOW. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Boris Labusov has labeled as fabricated allegations published in a Western media outlet about increased activity of Russian intelligence services in Europe and the U.S.

A British media outlet, Jane's Intelligence Digest, cited former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko as saying that the SVR received a direct order from Russian leadership to radically increase intelligence gathering activities in Europe and North America.

"There is no need to analyze Litvinenko's fabrications. You can say at once that he is fulfilling another social order by his superiors," Labusov told Interfax on Thursday.

Labusov said it is "beneath my dignity to hold discourse on Litvinenko's competence." The former FSB officer claimed that he had evidence that the FSB and SVR have made numerous attempts to recruit Russian emigrants abroad, threatening them with judicial prosecution and extradition to Russia.

Litvinenko and his family appealed for political asylum in Britain in 2000 and have lived there since then. A Russian court gave him a suspended sentence of 3.5 years with a probation period of 1 year. The former FSB officer was found guilty of abuse of office and illegal acquisition of explosives.

Litvinenko gained publicity particularly due to links with prominent Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who was among the initiators of a documentary film about the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow. The film alleged that Russian special services might have been involved in the bombings.

The FSB categorically denied those allegations.

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