PATRUSHEV'S NEST OF DANISH SPIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 013001 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF RS SUBJECT: PATRUSHEV'S NEST OF DANISH SPIES Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Alice Wells. Reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (SBU) FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev alleged that foreign intelligence services were increasingly using NGOs and press bureaus as cover in his annual year-end review December 19. Speaking on the eve of the day in honor of the security services, Patrushev singled out the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and accused it of employing terrorists, diverting aid, and collecting "biased information." Patrushev said that a DRC employee had been arrested for terrorism in July when a homemade bomb was found in his car during a traffic stop. He also alleged that DRC had sent Danish employees with experience in intelligence gathering to work in Russia. DRC had collected information on social, political, and economic conditions in the North Caucasus, as well as information on military matters and the potential for new outbreaks of violence, he said. ¶2. (C) Patrushev, other Russian officials, and Russian media have made similar allegations that NGOs, including in those in the North Caucasus, have links to foreign intelligence. Expatriates working for NGOs in the North Caucasus have told us repeatedly that they are assumed to be spies. They are watched closely by English-speaking FSB agents in the region and are occasionally asked to come in for interviews with them. In October, NTV aired a highly critical documentary about foreign aid groups in the North Caucasus, including an interview with a DRC official, repeating what have become familiar charges of aid diverted to rebels, terrorist employees, and corruption. Earlier this year, the FSB claimed that it had uncovered a British spy network linked to Russian NGOs. In May 2005, Patrushev said that U.S., British and other foreign NGOs provided cover for foreign intelligence agents. Included in Patrushev's charges were the Peace Corps, the British NGO Merlin, the Saudi Red Crescent Society, and the Society of Social Reforms and Society for Islamic Revival, both based in Kuwait. ¶3. (C) A DRC staff member in the North Caucasus said December 20 that the NGO had been surprised by Patrushev's remarks. There had been no unusual FSB interest in its activities, and it was operating normally. She noted that DRC had quickly been re-registered by the Federal Registration Service. She confirmed that a DRC employee had been arrested and convicted on charges of terrorism earlier this year, but his confession appeared to have been coerced. DRC continued to submit all local staff for background checks by the authorities, including the FSB and the Russian military. And it continued to be praised for its work by federal and local authorities, including the MFA, PolPred Kozak, and the Chechen Government. (NOTE: DRC has also tried to develop a good working relationship with the FSB and has regular contacts with them in the North Caucasus and Moscow. END NOTE). A contact at the Danish Embassy said they considered the allegations as part of Patrushev's annual report on the FSB's achievements and stressed that the allegations are unfounded. The Danish Government had no plans to issue a statement, he said. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: GOR harassment of and allegations of espionage against foreign NGOS in the North Caucasus are cyclical, and usually pass without any long-term effect on their operations. As the largest NGO in the region, DRC is an easy target for Patrushev in a year that has largely focused on GOR suspicions of NGOs and the need to regulate them. We know of nothing that would substantiate the allegations against DRC. END COMMENT. RUSSELL